


Love Letters and Other Things you Can Lose

by RavenpuffLove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha Arthur Weasley, Alpha Lucius Malfoy, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Eventual Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, HEA, Happily Ever After, Knotting, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mildly Dubious Consent, Omega Molly Weasley, Omega Verse, Porn With Plot, Possessive Behavior, Smut, Soul Bond, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-06-28 06:45:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19806874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenpuffLove/pseuds/RavenpuffLove
Summary: Molly Prewett has lost her luck.But things that are lost can be found.If you're willing to look for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic that I've ever actually attempted to post and I am pretty jazzed about it! 
> 
> I've got a couple of chapters written and I can tell the story will wrap up with roughly 10 chapters. The lemons are coming!!! Just not in the first few chapters so be patient! It's not a true slow burn, just have to set up the plot and the tone. I probably won't include notes at the beginnings of most chapters, but I'm excited and wanted to wave hi at anyone giving me a read. The story is unbeta-ed at this point so if there are any mistakes I apologize in advance. 
> 
> Specific note that the Dubious Consent tag is specifically in reference to the fact that the Alpha/Omega trope implies a mindlessness that would impair the ability to consent. I have done my best to mitigate that but with that intense a biological imperative I feel like it still bears the warning. 
> 
> Obviously I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter and this is for fun not money. 
> 
> Okay, I've rambled enough, the whole goal was to write something fun with young Molly and Arthur, well that and have fun with the A/B/O trope in all it's filthy glory ;). Let's get on with it!

Molly Prewett was a lucky witch.

Her whole life had been a series of near misses and fortunate moments. She'd managed to be born just early enough to avoid sharing her birthday with Halloween. Her magic manifested just in time to save her from her twin brothers antics knocking her down a flight of stairs as they tried to outrun the swarm of doxies they'd aggravated. She might not have been a stunning beauty but her strawberry blonde hair was striking and she carried her plump curves well. She managed to be better at charms than most without even trying.

Molly knew she was lucky, she'd always been very grateful for it, but lately it seemed her luck might have run out.

First her brother's had finally decided to get their own flat away from, gone before Molly even got off the train home. Their clockshop was taking off spectacularly and they'd decided that buying the flat above it was for the best as they liked the location. Leaving her at home alone every evening to practice knitting with their mother. Which she didn't mind exactly, she liked knitting even if her brothers, parents, and friends seemed to hate her taste, but it wasn't exactly how a girl imagined spending the summer of her 17th year. That was a summer for late nights and adventures and friendship. A summer for romance. But her next bit of bad luck was things going sour with Arthur over him spending his summer in muggle London, so romance was strictly out of the question.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his desire to experience that world, she knew he wanted to work in close contact with non-magical folk and thought he had a unique and thoughtful way of approaching the muggle world. She just wanted to be a priority. He'd come running up to their meeting spot by the lake on the last day of exams with an armload of toast to throw out to the giant squid, the news that he'd heard back from the guy in London about the room for the summer, and nothing but a lingering 'er' to Molly's question of 'what guy in London'. They hadn't made it back to the common room until the wee hours of the morning and getting back in at all had required Molly getting into a row with the Fat Lady that had lasted nearly thirty minutes and only ended when Molly had threatened to start slashing the canvas. 

Arthur had planned his whole summer away: a job in something called a record store, a room in some elderly man's basement, a special project approval for his muggle studies NEWT class, and he'd not even thought to tell her until a week before the break.

Arthur was a wonderful boyfriend. He was a kind, interesting, loving person, but he was so enraptured by the muggle world that he sometimes got lost in it. Leaving her alone on their last summer free from adult responsibilities was the same kind of out of the blue decision he'd been making since they met in first year. He'd just assumed he'd be able to get her parents to let her visit him in a strange part of London with no parents to chaperon. He never thought about how inappropriate it would seem to them. Arthur never thought anything seemed inappropriate. Maybe because he never was inappropriate. . . As much as Molly had wished he would be late at night when her restless hands wandered.

Her parents had vetoed the visit, as she knew they would, and before she knew it crying into his chest at the London platform as they said goodbye turned into slapping him and storming off to her parents having told him not to bother owling when he said he'd write her every day to make up for being gone.

Of course Arthur had owled. Every day. All summer. Because despite the fact that he'd made all sorts of decisions without consulting Molly, he cared about her. She hadn't written back, she hadn't even opened the letters, not wanting to deal with her conflicting feelings of anger, heartbreak, and longing. She'd just stuffed the letters away in her keepsake box and tried, failed, not to miss him.

She had managed two, week long visits with friends over the summer but a few nights staying up late practicing hair charms and giggling with Amelia Bones and Caroline Cho didn't keep her from thinking about Arthur, and missing him. She'd almost broken down and opened all his letters several times. The only thing that kept her from doing it was stubbornness. She realized two weeks into the summer that trying to punish him was really punishing herself, but deep down she wanted to believe she was doing the right thing, that a summer without her would make him realize he couldn't just take her for granted when he was making his plans for the future. At least not if he wanted her to be part of it. 

Of course there was the chance that it would backfire and he would return to school with a cartload of stories about his adventures in muggle London, and a burning passion for his new non-magical girlfriend who'd caught his eye when Molly had spurned him. 

Arthur hadn't wasted any time looking for her on the Hogwarts Express but Molly had disillusioned herself and stayed very still, not even letting herself look at him or even breathe when he'd wandered into the empty compartment she'd found. She knew she couldn't avoid him forever but she didn't want to make up on the train. If he even wanted to make up. She certainly didn't want to hear about his beautiful new muggle girlfriend in front of the entire train if that was what he wanted to tell her about. She'd be so humiliated, as well as heartbroken, knowing that she'd let her temper drive him into the arms of someone else.

Her plans to greet him politely at dinner were immediately abandoned as soon as she'd walked in and smelled the feast. The smell of eel pie turned her stomach almost as much as her nerves at seeing Arthur again, and there he was, his red hair shining bright in the candlelight even from across the long hall. His head turned and she bolted out the door. She just couldn't see him until she'd pulled herself together and could ask him to meet her alone, so he could let her down gently. She needed to get away.

So she ran off up a side stair and somehow she found herself lost. After nearly 7 years of living in the castle she'd finally found a hall with no portraits, no familiar suits of armor or distinguishing windows. Molly was positive she'd never seen this empty corridor before. She thought she might be somewhere on the third floor, but a staircase had moved on her while she was halfway up and she couldn't be sure it hadn't taken her much higher.

Yes, whatever mundane luck she had been blessed with her entire life had obviously abandoned her.

The longer she walked, twisting and turning through unfamiliar narrow hallways and trudging up little stairs, the worst she felt. Heat was radiating from her stomach. Her hands were shaking. She itched like someone had hexed her, and her neck ached terribly. She finally slumped down against a wall, too sick to go on and certain once someone found her she'd be mocked for getting more turned around than a first year and at this rate for vomiting on her shoes like an over excited toddler. A witch old enough to hold a wand shouldn't be letting her emotions get a hold of her so badly she became ill.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting huddled in the corner of the corridor, but she knew nothing was getting any better. She just felt hotter and more pitiful by the moment. Her magic seemed to be muddled with her sickness: a point me spun her wand like a pinwheel with no stop in sight; an Aguamenti made water that steamed so she dared not try to drink it; she couldn't pull out a happy memory to strong enough to send her Patronus off with a message, and she had been conjuring a beautiful lioness since her first try at the charm two years ago.

So Molly cried. She cried like she hadn't since she was a little girl and she had singed off her hair with a sparkler on bonfire night. She cried for for her lost summer and for the pain radiating out from her abdomen. She cried because she was lost and afraid and she wanted to be found. She wanted someone, anyone. She wanted her mother. She wanted her brothers. She wanted professor McGonagall. She wanted Arthur. 

What she got was the Headmaster.

" Miss Prewett, I'm sorry it took me so long to find you." Headmaster Dumbledore said as he crouched down beside her, his long, greying, red beard almost dragging the ground." The castle saw fit to make me aware of your predicament but it seems it also saw fit to move all the staircases away from this floor to protect you, I had to lift the apparition wards for a moment to get here."

" I d-dont feel well, Sir." She stuttered, her breath failing her at the overwhelming scent of candyfloss and lemon that seemed to roll off the man.

" I'm certain that you don't." He replied, blue eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter "Despite how long ago it's been I remember what presenting was like."

"Presenting?" Molly whispered, shock setting in as she looked at her aching forearms and noticed the blush colored oblong splotch raising up on the inside of her wrist. " This can't b-be right. I'm 17. I shouldn't be presenting."

" It is unusual, I would say you were very precocious if you were a beta, but for an Omega you are actually a late bloomer." The Headmaster said.

" An Omega." Molly replied, suddenly feeling much worse.

There'd never been any signs that Molly might be an Omega. Yes she was short, but she never followed orders well, and she certainly didn't seem particularly suited to pleasing others. She'd always been called pushy, and even a harridan once or twice by younger Gryffindors she annoyed when she wouldn't let them leave the common room a complete mess of an evening. She'd not been exposed to many alphas but she'd never reacted to a tone, and there hadn't been an Omega in either of her parents bloodlines for more than a century. Honestly she would have been less surprised if she'd suddenly been told she was an alpha, and female alphas were nearly unheard of.

It seemed rude to mention how shocked she was in front of another Omega. Especially considering Headmaster Dumbledore was pretty far from the stereotypical Omega himself. It's not like she believed the rubbish some said about Omegas, that they were natural slaves, or the more positive take that they were special, fragile, in need of protection. . . Dumbledore was proof that Omegas were not weak . . . .But she'd always been taught that the wizarding world was made up of three types of people: Betas, average wizards and witches who would settle down, have a child or two, and make up the majority of every occupation; Alphas, strong personalities who devoted their considerable stores of single minded attention into whatever they did, they were a bit less common; and Omegas, sociable and hyper visible to alphas, to whom they were perfect mates. They were absolutely loyal and a tempering influence on the rage that often accompanied Alpha's passionate focus. No one made much fuss about it but there were expectations. People treated designation with as much reverence and importance as one's Hogwarts House, and Molly had had no reason to expect she'd be anything but a happy, slightly overbearing, Gryffindor Beta. 

" Sir, my parents thought I was a beta. I thought I was a beta. We don't have anyone lined up for my presentation. I'm n-not on suppressants."

" I know Miss Prewett." Headmaster Dumbledore said, waving his wand and lifting her soundlessly off the ground. " I believe that the second can be rectified by our new School mediwitch, Madam Pomfrey. The first is a foregone fact. We will get you into isolation to buy you a few weeks until your first heat. You'll be all set by then."

And with that he grabbed her elbow and apparated them both to the safe confines of the infirmary where the Headmaster immediately laid Molly on the bed and did some wand movements that seemed to slot anti apparition wards back into place if the vague feeling of her ears popping was anything to go by.

" Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore called, drawing a strict looking woman in nurses robes from a door nearby. " I've discovered the cause of the hubbub around the dislocated staircases. It seems our young alphas were being drawn to a newly presenting Omega, and the castle had her sealed away from them in the 3rd floor corridor."

" Oh you poor dear," The mediwitch clucked, going to one of the dozens of sealed cabinets and pulling out a vial of plum purple potion and a familiar looking smokey grey one. " I've got some suppressants here that will help calm your scent glass and help you resist accidental outbursts from Alphas, though keep in mind it's not at all comprehensive protection. And a calming draught for the shock, it doesn't seem like you were expecting this."

" No I wasn't Madam Pomfrey. Thank you." The gritty suppressant tasted like bitter plums and she was grateful for the bland coating of the calming draught that followed, her head beginning to clear near immediately.

" It's no trouble, dear. All in a day's work with hormonal teenagers." The other witch chuckled patting Molly on the shoulder comfortingly.

" I do think an isolation room will be in order, Madam." Dumbledore flicked his wand and summoned a file from one of the many cabinets. " You will find Miss Prewett doesn't have a contract for her presentation. The suppressants should give her a few weeks before her maiden heat if we can keep her away from the alphas that have been trying to get to her. I will floo her family this evening and ask them to solicit offers. Miss Prewett, do you have any concerns to pass along to your parents?"

Molly thought for a moment. Maybe her luck hadn't run out. There'd been multiple alphas scenting her in the castle, and she'd managed to come away intact and unmated. She would have a chance to make a choice and there were alphas her age to choose from, so she wouldn't be stuck as a broodmare to a middle-aged wizard with no interest in her beyond her designation and youth. She might have lost Arthur, but she wasn't without options and she would stiffen her lip and make the best with what she had.

There would be time to mourn Arthur once she was in isolation.

" I get to make the final decision on who I accept for this heat. And it's only for this heat. No arranged bondings. And tell them if they send me any letters from Blacks or MacMillans I won't accept them. We are too closely related. It's improper." Molly added firmly, giving a sharp nod. " I would like my belongings delivered please. If I'm going to be alone I'd at least like to be able to study, and maybe knit."

"Of Course, Miss Prewett. You will find it all arranged in the isolation room." The Headmaster replied before taking his leave of the infirmary.


	2. Chapter 2

The isolation room was through Madam Pomfrey's office so that the Mediwitch could serve as an extra barrier on top of the wards layered upon the door. Molly's trunk was at the end of a metal-framed hospital bed and the room was empty of almost everything she would have expected. There was no dresser or wardrobe, and no desk or table. There was no fireplace though the room was quite toasty. The only things in the room aside from Molly's trunk were the bed and a big comfy chair in the corner by the single window and a door that could only lead to the bath.

It wasn't homey but Molly tried not to let it get to her. She had plenty of scrap material in her trunk, filling the room up would give her the chance to practice her transfiguration since it wasn't her best subject. Professor McGonagall would be so pleased when she returned to classes next month if she could improve her textures.

“ I know it's spare,” the mediwitch said as she guided Molly into the room. “ Usually students aren't here very long, we either realize what is wrong with them and can remove them from quarantine or they are sent on to St. Mungo's. You'll be able to have visitors of course, as long as they aren't Alpha's and they empty their pockets and go through the pheromone shedding procedure.”

“ That will be nice. Does that mean I will be able to keep up with my lessons?”

“ Yes. You'll be given some leeway considering you will have dealing with suitors and mood swings on your plate, but there is no reason you shouldn't be caught up when you return to classes next month.” Madam Pomfrey assured her as she climbed into the bed. “ Do you want me to have the kitchen's send up a tray? I know you missed it.”

Molly felt a little nauseated again thinking about the smell of eel pie that had dominated the meal.

“ No thank you Madam Pomfrey. I think I want to get to bed.”

It was a good choice. Molly's stomach might have rumbled for a few minutes but she was exhausted. She barely heard the mediwitch say goodnight or close the door before she'd fallen asleep.

Her dreams were full of strange visions and the distinct feeling that she was searching for something she couldn't find. She found herself in that empty corridor where she'd collapsed with the echoing sounds of footsteps all around her. Then at the shore of the black lake in her and Arthur's spot with the water boiling feet away and the giant squid crawling onto the rocky beach. Then in her room at home overwhelmed by the press of dolls and stuffed animals and quilts in her bed until she could barely breathe. Always alone, always afraid, and always confused.

She was glad when she finally woke to the plain stone of the isolation room with an aching bladder, ready for a break from her whirring mind and a problem she knew how to solve. It was early morning but the sun was rising and she could hear Madam Pomfrey buzzing around the office just outside the door. 

Molly barely had time to relieve herself and notice that she was so hungry she could eat a hippogriff before the mediwitch bustled through the door with a cart full of breakfast. 

" Good, I didn't wake you." Madam Pomfrey said, arranging a tray with double helpings of a full English breakfast neatly over Molly's legs after rushing her back into bed. " I'm sure you're starved, I had the elves send up a bit of everything. You'll want to eat before taking your morning suppressant. You didn't seem to notice last night, likely because you were so exhausted, but that brew can be harsh on an empty stomach." 

" Oh thanks I'm absolutely famished!" Molly said, mouth already half full of food. 

The food was delicious as always and hunger proved the best seasoning. Molly ate every bite on the tray, except the black pudding which she ignored, while flipping through the study guides her professors had sent along for her. 

For potions Slughorn had only set her essays and reading on the two options they would work on before she returned to class, she had the same for Muggle Studies, and she'd been excused from work in Defense against the Dark arts for the few weeks she would be gone. McGonagall had seemed to take the opposite tactic, setting Her the same essays as the class and sending word that she'd be by the next day to help with a practical lesson. Professor Bristlecone wrote a short letter to her along with his encouragement to spend her time creating a new charm to show him the next month since she was already at the head of that class.

She took her potions after eating, more suppressant and calming draught. Madam Pomfrey had been right, even with a big breakfast to soften it the suppressant was harsh on her stomach and she was glad to have work to distract her from the way her stomach seemed to drop away from her body. 

They also didn't work as well as she might have hoped. 

Magic usually worked completely or not at all if done well. It wasn't power of half measures. Unfortunately wizarding hormones seemed to be made up of a magic of their own. Like a malediction that affected the entire population except the only beasts they eventually turned into were grown witches and wizards. Magic couldn't completely contain the process once it had started. 

Molly noticed that she felt flushed and a bit dizzy no matter how still she sat. She was also uncomfortably aware of her body. Her breasts were so sensitive, moving was torture. Every step made her aware of how much they moved against the soft cotton of her nightgown, her crisp uniform wasn't even an option until she got used to the new sensitivity or perfected a stabilization charm that didn't make them feel like stones on her chest. And she'd never been more aware of the slick heat between her legs. She could barely stand to keep her hands out of her knickers, and from what little she knew about omegas it was only going to get worse. 

The only thing for it was to keep busy. 

The breakfast cart had disappeared and she was unpacking her trunk when Madam Pomfrey popped in again with a small bag of mail that was strangely scentless after going through the anti-pheremone cleansing spells. There were seven letters inside and at the very bottom a package of sweets from the Headmaster. 

One letter was from her parents, a long rambling message from her father that could easily have been summarized as a winking 'Good Godric who'd have guessed my bossy girl would end up an omega!?', and a brief congratulations from her mother with a nagging request to owl her back promptly and let her know that everything was alright and no one had harmed her. It was exactly what Molly would have expected from her parents, which was comforting. She didn't think she would have handled it well if her mother wasn't an emotional mess or her father did something other than make a joke. 

The rest of the bag seemed to be letters from alpha's putting themselves forward for her first heat. Molly couldn't believe they'd already managed to get so many offers just since the night before. It was overwhelming to know that the neat stack of envelopes sitting on the little desk she'd transfigured from her stationary set was full of letters from men asking to fuck her. 

Molly Prewett had never thought about a man fucking her in her entire life. 

It wasn't that she never thought of sex, she suspected she thought about sex more than the average girl her age. She certainly had seen the need to perfect her silencing charm in third year when her first sweet kisses with Arthur had left her breathless and with the burning need to touch herself. She had never stopped either, she spent time thinking of breathless moments with Arthur almost every night before she drifted off to sleep, and she read the terrible ten sickle romances that you could order from the back of Witch Weekly. If Molly were really being honest they were some of the only things she really enjoyed reading. That was how she thought of sex, romance novels where virginal witches waited in towers for worthy wizards to traverse terrifying enchantments and the feelings Arthur gave her when they snogged lying out on the grass by the lake. 

She didn't think of a stack of applications, and she certainly didn't think of being locked in a warded room with a man she barely knew and following his every command. That wasn't making love, it wasn't even sex, it was fucking. 

But it seemed she would have to start thinking about it now. Her body was already starting to tell her that her heat was coming. 

Molly sat on her bed, legs crossed, arranging pillows behind her until she knew she could sit there for hours, and began to go through the pile of letters one by one. 

The first proposal wasn't a surprise at all. It was also an absolute no. Morris Twycross was her father's best friend. She had known their son Wilkie since he was born, had babysat him when he and his late wife Elspeth had gone out for fancy dinners with her parents. She'd only been dead a year. Molly appreciated that he cared enough about her to do this, but he was as old as her father. He smoked a pipe and he had a big bushy mustache and wild hair except the bald top of his head that left him looking like a bottle brush on top of his long skinny neck. She simply couldn't imagine seeing the man naked much less having sex with him. She'd never be able to look at him over a holiday dinner again. He seemed to know she wouldn't say yes, his letter was thin and ended with “ take care of yourself dear girl, I am looking forward to my scarf at Christmas I'd like blue this year.” 

She didn't recognize the names on the next two letters, they both seemed like a letters that had little details like the names and dates changed out and sent whenever needed. They were both closer to her father's age than hers and the clear photos against the jade green marble made it seem like they'd reused their ministry employee badge photos. One was an older wizard with dark hair and eyes who included his favorite quidditch team in his letter like she was going to pick him because they were both Puddlemere fans. The other included no personal information whatsoever, just his photo and recommendations from two other omegas that he'd helped through heats when they were unclaimed. They both seemed impressed with his service to say the least, one of the women seemed to still be quite taken with him and said she would bond with him if he would mark her. He was handsome even though he was older, barrel chested with a short cropped beard and a wide grin. 

Molly wasn't sure which she preferred, all the little personal details or the cold professional resume but they both went in the maybe pile. 

The fourth letter held the first surprise and it wasn't a happy one. Henry Chang. Caroline Cho's boyfriend. Molly had no idea she was an alpha before opening the letter and honestly was a little surprised. He was friendly and laughed easily and doted on Caroline like she was the best thing he'd ever seen, never even seeming to notice she was a year ahead of him or that she was so quidditch obsessed he basically didn't see her half the week because of all the extra practices she put the Gryffindor team through. It was hard to believe he would betray his girlfriend of a year by trying to fuck her best friend until Molly read his letter. He hadn't known he was an alpha either until last night. Dumbledore had sent him to his head of house last night when he showed up in the hospital wing raging and babbling that someone was in trouble, someone needed him, and he couldn't explain why but he could smell them. Once they'd given him a calming draught he realized what had to be happening and had asked if the omega was spoken for. When they told him who it was he'd drafted the letter and sent it to her parents. Henry didn't want to do anything to hurt Caroline, and he wasn't going to leave her. He believed in the duty of alphas to care for omegas, and he was frightened by the intensity of what he'd felt when he'd caught her scent. He thought that if he was helping her through her heat he wouldn't risk losing his composure in front of his future wife. 

Molly could do worse than a handsome sixth year who was her friend and had a reason to be discreet, but she couldn't do that to Caroline. She couldn't even bring herself to do it to Henry. He seemed to think it would just be several days of sex and he wouldn't feel anything, but he'd never been with an omega. He'd never been with anyone but Caroline. Molly wasn't sure if the connection would be as fulfilling as the omega's from the third letter led her to believe, but she didn't want to risk ruining his happiness. Sometimes ignorance was bliss. 

The next letter was another familiar name. Another no. Gideon and Fabian must know she'd presented, since that was the only way that Alastor Moody would have any idea to send a letter. At least he wasn't her father's age, barely older than her brothers really, and he was always nice enough, but Alastor was a strange man. She wasn't exactly sure how her brother's had gotten involved with him but he always seemed to be stopping by their clock shop and whenever he saw Molly he drilled her about her defense spells and tried to jinx her to test her reflexes. In the letter he'd reminded her to watch her back, even when she was on it, a message so bold that the blush that had finally left her after reading so many propositions flared back to life. He meant well, she thought, but he embarrassed her which wasn't exactly the feeling she was looking for in her most vulnerable moments. Not to mention that she thought he was ugly as a garden gnome. It wasn't the scars, though he had many, she just found his face unappealing. He scowled and his eyebrows were wild and strange as an old man's. 

Basically the opposite of the next letter. 

Lucius Malfoy. 

Molly knew next to nothing about him. He was in her year, in Slytherin, seemed to be quite a hand at transfiguration, and his family was richer than every leprechaun in Ireland combined. The few times they'd spoken hadn't been particularly friendly. He was polite enough to her, but he didn't seem to think she merited any particular interest except the one time he asked to borrow her charms notes fourth year. Even his letter was very terse, not a resume so much as a promise of discretion and asking after her health. He had never payed her much attention, but he was handsome. Well and truly. The way men were handsome on the Witch Weekly dream bachelor pages or the covers of her romance novels. All long ice blonde hair and broad shoulders and pale gray eyes. Unfortunately she wasn't sure that Lucius Malfoy meant well. His friends certainly didn't. He was polite enough, but Corbin Yaxley had a filthy mouth, and Antonin Dolohov once tripped her on the stairs. For someone who seemed like a well raised young man, the kind of person you'd be happy to take home to your Mum, Lucius Malfoy hung around with a lot of men she would cross the street to get away from. 

She put him in the maybe pile. 

The last letter didn't look like the others. It wasn't addressed properly and it wasn't on thick, official looking parchment. It was a single sheet of the same school parchment that she'd been using for seven years folded over and sealed shut with a sticking charm, and on the front of it there was just her name, written in the same messy hand that she'd seen hundreds of times on passed notes and birthday presents and postcards. 

Arthur. A letter from Arthur. At the bottom of the pile of men vying for a chance to fuck her was a letter from the man Molly had wanted to marry since she was thirteen. 

The man she'd never be able to give children. Who'd have to share her with another person for four weeks a year if she married him. Who'd have to live in fear that an alpha didn't smell her in public, rape her and bond with her, so that even if someone found them and sent them to Azkaban for violating her, she'd pine for them the rest of her life and waste away upon their death. 

Molly got up and pulled her keepsake box out of her trunk and threw the letter into it with all the rest, unread just like his letters from the summer, and sat staring at the wall for a long time, trying not to cry. 

It took her the rest of the afternoon once she'd calm down to decide what she wanted to do with her three letter maybe pile. She reread the letters several times and gazed at the pictures they had sent. She put the Quidditch fan to the side with a pang of guilt. He was nice enough, but he was married. Molly didn't care that his wife knew and didn't mind him fulfilling his alpha urges elsewhere, she couldn't sleep with another woman's husband. Maybe she was old fashioned, she certainly wasn't a freeloving hippy like some of the muggleborn students, though she did quite like the clothes. She just couldn't do it. Down to Lucius Malfoy and the handsome man who knew how to take care of omegas there didn't seem to be much to make a decision on. She knew so little about either of them; they were both handsome; they both seemed like they'd not spread around that they'd had her; they both intimidated her. 

In the end she sent out two nearly identical letters asking each to have dinner with her privately, changing nothing but the names and dates. If they both accepted she'd have less than a week to worry. After two nights in a row of inhaling alpha hormones she would have to have made her decision, because her heat would be on her. 

A flush creeped up her neck just thinking of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's always bothered me that Cho Chang had two names that are traditionally Korean surnames. So I decided to create a reason for that! I thought it would be nice if her mom had given her her maiden name as a first name. Forward thinking and independent, I just liked the idea of it. I hope people noticed and thought it was fun :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hey had to go back and edit this chapter to fix my formatting. I'm new to publishing here and I didn't know it would strip out my italics etc. It is otherwise the same :)* 
> 
> This chapter is a little bit longer because I just thought the next chapter deserved to stand alone and I moved some things around. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> I decided to create an aesthetic for this story! I think it's very pretty, you can see it on my facebook page :)
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/ravenpuff.love.7

Lucius's response to Molly's invitation came along with the chicken and veg that Madam Pomfrey carted in for her dinner the same day she sent it out. He was happy to receive her invitation and asked her to let him know if she would like anything while in isolation: books, sweets, notes from her classes. Whatever she needed he would be happy to bring up to the hospital wing for her if she owled for him.

Her other suitor, Jeremiah Smith, the omega handling professional, didn't reply for two days but he would be there when he was meant to be. His letter was as short and to the point as his application had been, and he pushed dinner back to the next week, causing her to have to reschedule with Lucius, who thankfully didn't cause a fuss about the change of date. Jeremiah had said it was because of his job, but Molly couldn't help but feel he was showing her that he was in charge of the situation. She didn't necessarily like the idea that he was testing her, but it seemed like maybe he was used to his alpha impulses being his best selling point.

Once she was sure she'd be seeing them both Molly's nerves took over.

Isolation left her with more free time than she could possibly keep herself busy during. The homework that had seemed so time consuming before was easy to complete now that she didn't have to spend so much time in class and she had no social life.

She spent most of her time working on the original charm creation that she'd been assigned by Professor Bristlecone. She was determined to create a better charm for her breasts so that she could wear some clothing that wasn't her soft pajamas. She knew other girls who used a basic stabilization charm for Quidditch, but none of them had breasts like her, large and full and swaying under her robes. Using the stabilization charm on her chest left them as heavy rock hard lumps smashed down awkwardly under her robes. She preferred the lifting charm her mother had taught her, but it wasn't designed to prevent the soft flesh from constantly swaying and jiggling, just a bit of magic support to keep them from sagging uncomfortably. Her hope was that with all the free time she had in isolation she could work out a charm that combined the best of the two, a milder stabilization along with the flattering shapeliness of the lifting charm. Lucius had been a wonderful help, picking up whatever books he thought might be helpful from the library for her when she told him about her assignment.

Professor McGonagall came by every other day to lecture and help her with practicing her spellwork. They were working on transfiguring liquids, it required concentration and rapid wandwork to get it right but they were making good progress. Molly had managed some of the simple transfigurations, water to tea and coffee. Water to milk was giving her trouble, she needed to get it before she could move on to any of the other thicker liquids, the glues and syrups.

Her essays and readings just didn't fill up the time the practice and charm creation did. She was as done with work as she could be by two in the afternoon every day. She didn't have a visitor outside of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey for 6 days. On the Sunday after she'd been put in the room Caroline Cho and Amelia Bones went through the anti-pheremone rituals so that they could come visit her for the afternoon.

“ Henry presented too,” Caroline said as soon as they had all settled among the pillows on Molly's bed. “ Same night as you. I told you over the summer he'd started getting rough when we fooled around, and he got in that fight with my brother over knocking me off my broom. I guess that was just early signs. Got a whiff of you in the great hall and started running.”

Molly had never been so uncomfortable in her entire life.

“ I'm sorry Caro, you have to know I'm not interested in Henry.” She managed after a moment of furious blushing.

“ Oh I know Molly.” Caroline waved off her discomfort. “ I admit I was worried at first, before I knew who the omega was, but I trust you. Henry is going on potion to make him less sensitive to the pheremones, so he won't go into rut if he smells you or some other omega around heat.”

“ I'm glad to hear that.” Molly was just happy that she didn't need to reveal the letter. Henry had had a moment of weakness, but he was going to make sure he didn't have another.

“ She isn't telling you the best part.” Amelia said with a sneaky looking smile.

Caroline pulled her left hand out from under the pillow she had pulled into her lap, revealing a delicate gold band with a tiny pear shaped golden topaz on her ring finger.

“ You're engaged!” Molly squealed “ Tell me everything!”

He'd proposed the night before up on the Astronomy tower. They'd been meeting there since they started dating the year before. The ring had been his mother's and his parents had given him their blessing to give it to Caroline. They weren't getting married right away. Henry had already applied for an apprenticeship in ancient runes and planned to go through to Mastery which would take years. She wanted to work on the business end of the Hollyhead Harpies. Neither wanted to get married just to live apart for the next few years. Especially since he wasn't going to be out of Hogwarts for a year, even though he was already seventeen.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the engagement party the couple was planning for Christmas. It was comforting to know that days like this would still happen, even with Molly presented and her breasts aching every time she laughed.

As they were leaving Amelia shouted after Caroline that she couldn't find her bracelet and would catch up before turning to Molly.

“Molly, you need to do something about Arthur. He won't stop asking me if you got his letters. I'm not telling you that you have to take him back, but you can't just ignore him. It's cruel.” Amelia didn't meet Molly's eyes and then left before she could respond. Molly didn't mind. There was nothing to say.

That night she cried herself to sleep.

She was alone again for several days with no one but Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey for company. Neither of them seemed to much care to spend their time with her either. It was harder to focus on her schoolwork the closer it got to her dinner dates with the alphas and the longer they delayed her heat with the suppressants the more she wanted to climb out of her own skin.

At night she dreamed of faceless men filling the aching place between her legs and voices that made her knees weak and her heart flutter. She woke with slick thighs and sheets, her wrists and neck inflamed and itching where her scent glands pulsed with need. No matter how much she rubbed and scratched and washed the raised patches of skin ached to be touched.

By the time the night before her date arrived Molly felt wild. Headmaster Dumbledore arrived that evening with dinner for two and her evening potions.

“ Headmaster what a surprise!” Molly cried out, wiping the sweat off her brow and casting a few cooling charms on herself and wishing she had a moment to cast an extra layer under her breasts before he could turn around and see her with her hands down her shirt.

“ Yes!” He said, clapping his hands excitedly. “ I thought it would be good for us to have that talk now. Don't worry I understand if you forgot about my offer, our minds can get away from us at the best of times.”

“ Thank you for coming, Sir. I appreciate the company.”

“ I suspect you rather appreciate the distraction, but I am good company.” He chuckled to himself, setting out their dinners and summoning the chair from the window for himself. “ Excuse me for being frank this evening, I am a firm believer in pleasantries but I have at least two other meetings before I can turn in.”

“ Of course, Sir.” Molly couldn't help but wonder who the other two meetings would be with. Were they related to running the school or was he going to be sitting down in his office with Lucius Malfoy tonight and having a conversation the etiquette of being an alpha.

“ Take your potions, Miss Prewett. I see that Madam Pomfrey decided to double your suppressant, and added back in the calming draught. You must have been climbing up the walls for her to give you three types of sedation.”

“ It's been,” Molly wasn't exactly sure how to finish the sentence. It hung in the air for a moment unfinished and fragile. “ uncomfortable.”

She took the potions with a grimace, chasing down the nasty grit with pumpkin juice and big bites of cottage pie.

“ I'm sure it has been at that. I would love to tell you it is going to get better, but you have a day or two of suffering left I'm afraid.” The headmaster tucked into his dinner which seemed to be nothing but desserts, continuing his lecture between bites. “ Your isolation has kept you from the pleasure of meeting any alphas since your presentation. I think it is important to prepare you for what that will be like, unbonded and so close to your heat. To best of my understanding, you might think that as an old man I have very little idea what you will feel, but male omegas experience many of the same things. If you think you are slick now, if you think your skin is sensitive now, if you think that your mind is consumed with thoughts of sex now, it will be unimaginably more intense once you are near an alpha. You will be compelled to touch them, and they will have the ability to use their voice to compel you to do much more than touch them. Their moods and desires will feel more important to you than anything you have ever wanted. They will feel compelled to touch you, to command you, to protect you, and to mate with you. There comes a point where even the most even keeled and logical alpha can be consumed by these instincts.”

Molly swallowed hard against the fearful lump that had formed in her throat. The headmaster wasn't saying anything she hadn't already read in the volumes that Lucius Malfoy had managed to find for her, but he said it bluntly. He described meeting alphas so close to her heat the way that Alastor Moody described the dark curses he'd seen in the line of duty. So that you couldn't mistake the danger you'd be in if you ever encountered the threat.

“ I don't mean to scare you.” Dumbledore said, reaching out to pat her shaking hand as she put down her fork, her dinner eaten without having really been tasted. “ I mean to prepare you. You will not be helpless, Miss Prewett. Do not mistake your softness for weakness. I am proof enough there is power in omegas.”

“ I don't want to end up bound to a man I barely know at seventeen.” Molly replied quietly.

“ You won't. Professor McGonagall will chaperon your dates. I have a charmed necklace that will prevent you from being bitten and bonded.” He placed the silver crescent moon pendant in her open hand. “ Only I will be able to remove it, and I won't until your heat has passed.”

Molly put the necklace on without having to be asked. It shrunk once it was over her head until the pendent rested just under her collarbones and the chain was far to small to go over her head.

“ Thank you, Headmaster.”

“ You're Welcome, Miss Prewett.” He stood, banishing the cart and returning the chair to it's place by the window. “ If you don't have any questions I should probably get on with my evening of meetings.”

Molly could only think of one.

“ How do I choose someone?”

“ You just do. It isn't life or death, don't try to make it so.” Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

Dumbledore was gone before Molly could think to ask anything else. The potions had made her drowsy. She was out before she could even change into her pajamas and dreaming again of men she couldn't see but she could feel hot and hard against her skin.

Molly thought about what Dumbledore had said as she cast her first test attempt at her brassiere charm the next day. She was getting ready for her date with Jeremiah Smith and knew she couldn't handle the added discomfort of her breasts jiggling and rubbing her unbearably sensitive nipples against her robes. She also couldn't let herself become a nervous wreck over the fact that she might be sleeping with the man she was about to meet. It wasn't life or death. Plenty of girls had already had sex, and it wasn't always Henry and Caroline who just knew they were meant to be. Amelia had had quite a bit of sex, with several people. The Ravenclaws seemed to treat sex like a recreational activity to blow off steam, especially during exams. She wasn't going to be bound. It was just sex. It didn't have to be meaningless, but it didn't have to be meaningful either. It just had to stop the absolute, overwhelming, aching, need in between her legs.

She'd be happy if she found someone handsome and reasonably polite.

She'd have to be. She wasn't going to find more over the course of a dinner.

She decided on a set of robes that she'd made over the summer with her mother, inspired by muggle fashion with a lace up neckline and long draped sleeves in a yellow cotton patterned with sunbursts. It made her feel good to wear something she'd made, something soft and airy and not too old fashioned. Something should feel normal. The room certainly didn't. Professor Bristlecone had expanded her isolation room into a suite, adding on a dining room that contained nothing but an oblong table with two chairs and a third comfier chair back against one wall for her chaperon. No real windows, just enchanted portals that showed an early evening sky over the lake. The room was so heavily warded that it nearly vibrated, magic so thick it almost didn't feel real, like anything she touched could suddenly disappear without a trace.

Jeremiah Smith was twenty minutes late. When he finally breezed into the room Molly had almost given up on him coming at all. He walked past her to the other end of the table and slumped into the chair, trailing a scent of coffee and paper in his wake that was so tempting it made her eyelids flutter.

“ Work ran late.” He said, temple cradled in one hand. “ I need food before we continue, see to it.”

His voice pulled at something deep within Molly and she found herself standing out of her seat and heading towards the door to go get something from the kitchens. She'd never wanted to do something more in her entire life than she wanted to do what he asked. Except perhaps to hear him speak her name in the same short crisp tones.

" Molly you can sit down." Professor McGonagall said sternly from her seat by the door. Calling elves to set the table with steaming dishes.

" Oh you are responsive. This dinner may be more fun than I thought." Jeremiah said as he watched Molly try to shake the compliant fog from her head and take her seat. “ _Sit_.”

Her bottom immediately found the seat at his command, almost missing the chair in her haste to obey. Jeremiah chuckled and Molly started to feel fuzzy and content. Her eyes locked onto his and her mind spiraled down to only the warm feeling of having pleased him, a steady refrain of alpha is pleased, alpha is happy, humming from somewhere deep inside.

“ _Eat_. I'll talk when I'm ready.” He ate in silence for a few minutes, eating and watching her take slow methodical bites of her food, not even sure what she was eating but hoping it wasn't something that would make her breath smell in case the alpha came closer. “ This is unusual, you know. I don't think I've ever eaten a meal with an omega that she didn't eat from my fingers between waves of heat. I almost rejected your invitation, I was so insulted.”

“ _I'm sorry Alpha_.” Molly found herself nearly in tears at the thought of having insulted him, even not understanding how.

“ It's good that you called me alpha, that you don't want to insult me. Very good.” His smile warmed his voice and sent a thrill of pleasure down her spine. She wanted to always be good for him. “ But don't cry little Omega, you'll choke on your dinner. _Don't interrupt me again_.”

Molly nodded, she could do that.

“ I send out letters to any omegas who solicit an alpha to care for them during a heat. I specifically do not respond to omegas soliciting for bonding. I thought that you had lied in the letter submitted to the ministry when I received an owl asking for something as personal as a date. It wasn't until I went back to read the initial letter that I realized you were newly presented. The omegas I have been with had an arrangement that fell through, they weren't young and inexperienced. So I need to know, are you looking to bond during this heat? If your answer is no I will tell you what I can offer you during your heat. If your answer is yes I will politely decline to offer my services, but understand either way I will not be displeased with you. I will only be unhappy if you attempt to lie to me.”

“ I wouldn't lie. I'm a very honest person.” Molly said, trying not to stutter over her words, glad her plate was empty so she didn't have to decide whether to eat or answer. “ I don't want to be bonded. This necklace I'm wearing won't let that happen. Headmaster Dumbledore is the only one who can remove it. I'm sorry if asking for dinner was rude, I just wanted to get to know the person I'll be sleeping with. I haven't done that before and I'm nervous. The applications felt so impersonal I thought it would be nice to really meet people before I decided--”

“ _That's enough_.” Jeremiah stopped her, holding up a hand. “ You don't have to keep explaining I understand and I believe you. If you decide you want me to take care of you during this heat I won't refuse you.”

She was so glad. Molly wanted to be taken care of, everything was so overwhelming and she ached everywhere. He was strong, what was the word he had used? Experienced. He was experienced. This alpha could take care of her.

“ I see your eyelids fluttering and that flush rising up your neck, Molly.” That caught her attention, he'd said her name. “ We can't have that. You want to be rational to make your decision. I'm sorry, I've been enjoying watching you and letting the alpha tones slip in but I will stop. You must be desperate for this little flirtation to be doing this to you, you can barely talk.”

“ I can talk.” She said, knowing it was barely true.

“ So you can.” Jeremiah smiled, his voice softening. “ If you choose to spend your heat with me, you won't need to speak much. Omegas say certain things, they just do. Alphas do too, but I don't enjoy conversing much otherwise. You will want to be taken care of, to be filled, to be praised and feel wanted. I can do those things for you. I will make sure you don't overheat, and that you eat. You wanted to know the person you will be with. If it is me you will be with someone focused, and who enjoys what he is doing. I cannot offer you more than that. It may seem impersonal to you now but I can promise you that your heat won't feel personal. It will feel overwhelming and you won't regret picking an alpha that knows what they are doing.”

Jeremiah stood and crossed the room, the warm smell of newsprint and coffee overwhelming as he drew close. Molly wasn't sure what she expected from him at the end of the strange meal and one sided conversation, but it wasn't for him to extend his hand out, clearly intending that she should shake it. His hand was cool and large, his rough fingertips grazing the glands on her wrist so gently she'd almost thought it was an accident until she looked up into the man's face. She didn't know him well but it was hard to mistake a smirk. He had meant to send her heart racing and her skin on fire with that brief touch of skin.

“ Good luck with your first heat, Molly. I'll be here if you wish me to be, now or in the future. _Go to bed and be a good girl_.” He murmured, and then he was gone.

The distinct feel of his hand lingered in hers as she retreated quickly out of the dining room and into the privacy of her temporary bedroom. As soon as she shut the door she climbed into the bed and slipped into her bed. His last words rang through her mind and she slipped the hand he had touched beneath her robes and into her knickers and imagined that he was the one touching her. For the first time in a week Molly was able to find completion against her own fingers, his voice and smell still faintly with her as she rubbed the tight nub at the apex of her sex.

She was asleep before she could even think to spell the slick off the sheets.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey fair warning actual lemons here! Also a lot of the A/B/O stuff that squicks some people so if its not your cup of tea you might want to rethink reading! 
> 
> Also, sorry again but I don't have a beta so if there are minor typos mea culpa!
> 
> I do not own any bit of the potterverse I just play there, I don't make any money from it whatsoever.

Molly almost overslept and missed her second dinner.

Madam Pomfrey hadn't wanted to wake her further when she'd barely been able to choke down her suppressants and calming draught before retreating back into her bed. It was seven in the evening before the mediwitch brought in the second dose and told Molly she had to wake up now or she'd be late.

She wasn't sure she cared.

Her sheets, her skin, her clothes, they all smelled like sex and alpha. A living, breathing Alpha. She dreamed of him and for the first time she felt satisfied because her dream lover had gained a face, and calloused hands. He spoke and his words made her tremble, and just before he came inside her the knot on his cock slipped into her. A perfect fit. Alpha and Omega.

Jeremiah had invaded her senses. She wasn't sure she even liked him. He hadn't tried to woo her at all, or if he had it had been so strictly sexual it was hard for her to separate it from the teasing he'd given her all the way through their dinner. Whatever wildness was taking over her liked him though. It liked the bitter smell of coffee that wafted off him and way everything he said was a command. She half wanted to call Madam Pomfrey back and ask her to cancel her dinner with Lucius and owl for Jeremiah.

But if there was one thing Molly was it was polite. She'd invited a man to dinner and she wouldn't stand him up. It was only a few hours and then she could soothe the ache that was building between her legs, and she'd be glad that she hadn't just jumped into bed with the first alpha she met without even seeing what else was on offer. Jeremiah seemed to think she should be more detached, more professional. Even if dinner was a disaster she had to hope that he would appreciate that she'd tried to evaluate her options thoroughly.

A _tergeo_ on her dress and thighs took care of the sticky mess she'd left. A charm and her strawberry blonde hair had righted itself, the frizzy bedhead arranging itself into a neat pile on top of her head with just a few artful tendrils left out. Her modified stabilization charm had worn off in the night but it had worked well enough she recast without further tweaking.

The mirror in the isolation room wasn't enchanted like the ones in the dorms. It didn't have any words of praise or concern for her after her last minute primping, but Molly thought she looked nice. The dress was still a pretty color and skimmed over body nicely. Her cheeks were pink with the slight fever of her oncoming heat. The suppressant couldn't keep her body completely cool anymore, but at least the result was charming. Her breasts were comfortably still and lifted into a flattering position on her chest. She felt pretty, not just short and plump and freckled. She was all those things, but tonight it was in the best possible way.

Lucius was already waiting at the table when she stepped through into the temporary dining room. He had taken the seat on the near end of the room, as far as he could get from a tight-lipped Professor McGonagall, so when Molly opened the door she was facing the familiar, shining sheet of perfectly straight white blond hair. With McGonagall's dour face just over his right shoulder it felt almost like being in double Transfiguration with Slytherin, just like she had been every Monday and Wednesday for the last three years. At least until he stood up from his chair and strode ahead of her to pull out her chair. Classroom Lucius was polite but he never would do something like this, he'd never notice her enough to care for such a casually intimate gesture.

Walking after him Molly was slowly enveloped by the scent of red wine and the same sharp vetiver as her favorite bath oil.

Lucius Malfoy smelled wonderful.

He didn't linger near her chair after he'd pulled it out, crossing to the other side of the table and moving back to his own seat, but his scent lingered where his hands had touched the shoulders of the chair. Molly was tempted to rub her her face against the smooth wood just to get his scent on her. She managed to fend off the impulse by concentrating on laying her napkin out prettily in her lap.

“ I hope that the books I found helped with your charm.” Lucius said once they'd been seated for a moment and a snap of his fingers had brought house elves popping into the room with the food.

“ They did,” Molly's face flamed with her heat and embarrassment as she noticed his eyes flicker to her breasts. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd figured out what she was attempting by the spellwork she'd been studying, or if the charm was just working as intended. " Thank you for your help. I'm a fair hand at charms but I don't much like research. I don't know the library well."

Lucius's laugh was rich and full and very unexpected. It sent a thrill down Molly's spine and little trills of _alpha, alpha, alpha_ running through her mind. She felt her eyelids fluttering and her breath coming quicker.

" My apologies, Miss Prewett." Lucius said, his voice polite again and devoid of the thrilling warmth of his laugh. " I didn't intend to use alpha tones on you. I'm still learning to control it and you smell heavenly, it makes it easy to slip. I just thought it was funny because I had to enlist a Ravenclaw sixth year to help me find the books. I love the library here almost as much as the one at my family Manor but it seems I have mostly stuck to the history section."

" It's alright." She meant it, he was being pleasant, and laughs weren't meant to be restrained. Molly was mostly glad to have made him laugh. " You can call me Molly. Miss Prewett makes me feel like a child, and I'd like to call you Lucius. After all we're here to get familiar."

" Molly then." He said with a nod, obviously pleased. " Did you plan the menu?”

“ I did.” She hoped that he liked her choices. The first few bites were delicious as far as she was concerned but she hadn't eaten all day. Honestly she would have preferred to cook the meal herself but planning was the best she could do in isolation. “ I hope you like the food. I asked where you were from and tried to include something traditional. Pudding is Druid's Cake, I've never had it but it's from Wiltshire and it's got apples in it which sounded wonderful.”

“ I'm certain I like ham and potatoes as much as anyone, and I love asparagus. I've never had Druid's Cake actually, my family is originally from France, so mostly the elves make french foods, especially for dessert. We can both enjoy something new this evening.”

Molly couldn't ignore the double meaning. There were plenty of new things she could do with Lucius. They could definitely do more than just indulge in a strange old cake recipe.

A dewy sheen of sweat seemed to be slowly coating her whole body as she thought about his hands trailing up the sensitive skin of her thighs.

“ Lucius,” She said, trying to keep her voice from going breathy and weak. “ I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions. There are things I'd like to know before I make any decisions.”

“ Of course, ask away Molly. Just don't make me eat alone.” He grinned at her in a way she might have said was playful if it wasn't so restrained.

That smile made her feel like she'd just swallowed a fizzing whizbee, but she took a few more bites before continuing.

“ Do you not have an intended?” She was a little worried about his answer. “ My family thinks it is old fashioned, but I know most of the other old families still make sure the children are betrothed before first year.”

“ I was.” The look on his face said that he'd rather be discussing nearly anything else. “ I presented during fifth year and her parents called the betrothal off. My father had told the family that every Malfoy male had been an alpha for the last ten generations, it's blood magic. The Flints didn't seem to take that seriously until it was a reality. They broke things off because they believed I would be prone to stray. If I ever met an omega.”

“ I'm sorry.”

“ Don't be, Agnes Flint was neither very pretty nor very interesting. I think I would have been quite miserable married to her.” He waved off her apology, voice full of disinterest. “ Smelling an unbonded omega for the first time only confirmed that suspicion.”

“ I'm wearing protection against being bonded during this heat, does that bother you?” Molly continued, every bone in her body wanting to take the cue of his stiffly clenched jaw and get off the topic of his broken betrothal.

“ No.” He looked surprised at the question. “ It would bother me more if you weren't taking precautions. You've known what you are for less than a month. I understand wanting to know whoever sees you through this heat, and while I appreciate the pleasantry of this dinner I'm not sure it's enough to base a lifetime commitment on.”

“ Can you tell me why you put yourself forward?” Molly was glad he was letting her ask her questions but she was starting to feel like this really was some sort of job interview. No matter how polite she was it felt like she was interrogating him, and she didn't want to feel that way. She wanted to hear that warm laugh again, to see that almost playful grin on his face. “ Your first letter was very formal, and I appreciated how kind and helpful your response to my invitation was, but it didn't give me much idea what your interest is in me.”

“ Honestly, omegas are rare and becoming rarer. An unbonded, unpromised omega that is a member of the sacred twenty eight is something I may never see again in my lifetime, certainly not before I marry. Scenting you the night of the welcome feast was a shock, but when I regained my senses I felt I had been given a gift, a chance at something I never dared to believe I could have. Knowing I was meant for something deeper than the shallow affection of an arranged marriage, and also knowing that I would never have has haunted me. I am not used to being denied anything. ” Molly almost thought he was done when he stopped to take another bite of the apple-filled Druid's cake but he raised one eyebrow and shot her a winning smile before saying. “ Of course there is also the less dramatic reason that I am a red-blooded wizard like any other and _you are a very pretty witch_.”

His voice had dipped back down again as he spoke and it drifted over her warm and rich and tempting. _Alpha was pleased with her,_ her brain resonated with it. He thought she was pretty.

Molly had been told she was pretty many times. Her parents, her brothers, her friends, they had all complimented her with the simple honesty of people who love the person in front of them. Arthur had told her she was beautiful, pretty, lovely, cute, darling. He'd never stopped at pretty. She'd loved the way he talked to her. He'd made her feel cherished.

So it wasn't that she didn't believe she was was attractive, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't been worried. She had always been unfashionably plump. She was covered in freckles and her skin was more likely to be blushing than not. She was pretty but not in the slim, slick, coiffed, perfect, and poised way that so many pureblood witches managed to be. People could be cruel. Lucius's friends had been cruel.

But Lucius thought she was pretty.

Lucius Malfoy, who launched a thousand late night fantasy confessions in giggle filled dorm rooms. Filthy rich, could have any witch he wanted, Lucious Malfoy. The man so handsome he bordered on pretty with his pale, flawless skin and shining curtains of blond hair, and perfectly tailored robes showing off his broad shoulders and the way his chest tapered down to his narrow hips.

He thought she was pretty.

“ I think I might like the second reason better.” Molly said breathily, not entirely certain why she'd said it.

“ I think I do to.” He replied, his voice still rumbling through her, but not sinking her down into herself the way that Jeremiah's crisp commands had.

He wasn't asking anything of her. He wasn't making demands. She didn't feel like she'd been taken over. He just let her feel his desire, and in return she felt her own.

Molly felt like she was melting. She wasn't dewy, she was sweating. She was slick between her legs, not just her sex but down the back of her thighs where they sat in the puddle she was dripping onto the chair. She was almost certain Lucius could smell her. She could certainly smell him. Somehow his scent was all around her again even across the table. The only word for it was decadent. It felt somehow sinful, the way it felt when she ate silky smooth chocolate cake batter off the mixing spoon, like she knew it would make her sick if she took it too far but she wanted nothing more than another taste.

She wondered if he was hard for her and that thought was enough to break the reverie that had slackened her jaw as she stared at him.

“ Lucius,” She almost whispered. “ It's starting.”

“ _I'll take care of you._ ” Lucius said.

Everything inside her was screaming. _Yes Alpha. Please Alpha. Take care of me. I need you._ He knew exactly what to say and he smelled so good and she wanted to run her tongue just under the sharp edge of his perfectly pressed collar.

He was next to her and she didn't know how he'd gotten there and Professor McGonagall was between them, wand drawn and pointed at the young alpha vibrating in anger that he'd been prevented from getting to her.

“ Miss Prewett, if your heat is beginning you need to make a decision right now. Would you like me to call for Mr. Smith.” The formidable transfiguration professor said, her sharp voice like knives in Molly's sensitive ears.

“ _I will take care of her_.” Lucius shouted, drawing his own wand against the professor.

“ That is not your decision to make Mr. Malfoy!” Professor McGonagall snapped. “However used you are to getting your way!”

This was dangerous. Her alpha was in danger. Molly canted her head to the side, presenting the scent gland under the delicate line of silver chain. _She would submit to him, he wouldn't be angry anymore, she needed him_.

“ _Alpha, please, please, stop. I need you. Please take care of me._ ”She whispered.

“ Mr. Malfoy is your choice, Miss Prewett?” Professor McGonagall asked, hesitation clear in her voice.

“ _Yes._ ” There was no hesitation in her voice.

Lucius ducked under Professor McGonagall's arm and hauled Molly up out of her chair. Even through two layers of clothes his body felt like fire against hers. Her breasts pressed against the firm flat plain of his stomach and she could feel the moan more than hear it, a deep base rumble that made her nipples ache. This close his scent was more than a whiff of vetiver and wine, it was overwhelming like she was bathing in it, and more than that a sharp earthy smell that overwhelmed her. She wanted to rub it all over her. Inside her. He clearly wanted to do the same thing to her because he laved his tongue over the gland at her wrist, turning her knees to jelly in the process.

Suddenly a cold jet of water sprayed over them, icy against Molly's heated skin.

“ YOU CAN NOT DO THIS HERE!” Professor Mcgonagall shouted, her wand pointed at them and spewing jets of water. “ We have rooms for this. They are better, no one wants to see this on a hospital monitoring spell.”

The professor led them through the halls wet and clinging to each other, Lucius half carrying Molly so she could keep up. She had no idea where in the castle they were. Her legs hurt from walking so fast for so long and everything was a blur of stone and the firm grip of Lucius's fingers around her wrist. A slow steady string of soft moans and almost suppressed curses flew from his lips every time he had to jerk on her arm and he pressed on the delicate patch of skin under his fingertips. The castle seemed to sense their desperation and staircases moved for them the same way that they had the night when she'd first presented and run through the castle trying to escape the overwhelming feelings in her body.

The heat room appeared out of a blank length of wall when Professor McGonagall rapped on it with her wand. A huge wooden door that looked as old as the stone around it with runes carved deep into every inch or maybe just random scratches. Molly couldn't tell which in the few seconds before she'd been pushed through past the threshold and onto something soft. The door slammed with a loud bang and they were alone. Alone the gentlemanly young man from dinner disappeared. He was Alpha. He no longer strode, he stalked, he loomed over her and she suddenly felt very small.

“ Your drenched,” Lucius murmured as his hard thigh slid between her legs and the damp wetness soaked into the fabric of his trousers. “ Is that all for me little omega.”

“ Yes Alpha, all for you, all yours.” Molly gasped as his long fingers peeled back her knickers and slipped over the little swollen nub that was the only thing she could think about. “ Don't stop, please, don't stop.”

“ I'm not going to stop. I told you I am going to take care of you. Such good care of you.” He slipped two fingers into her and groaned. “ You're so tight, so wet. You're going to feel so perfect around my cock. You've got to come first though, I want to feel that pretty cunt fluttering around my fingers. _Right now_.”

She came. Right then. She hadn't imagined that someone so refined would say such filthy things to her but every word tightened her around him. His hard palm rubbing on that sensitive nub and his fingers stretching her further than she'd ever been stretched before overwhelmed her and she shook apart around his hand. It wasn't enough. She was still clenching around his fingers and it wasn't enough.

“ I need you,” She panted, hands scrabbling at his shoulders as she shot off of the bed, that's what the soft place was it was a bed, covered in blankest and pillows, a nest. “ _More please, Alpha. Please_.”

Lucius grabbed the hem of her dress and jerked it up over her head, leaving her naked but for the soaked knickers pushed halfway down her hips. He couldn't keep his eyes off her breasts, her neck, the soft line where her belly rested against her bent thighs.

“ Soft, pretty, wet, perfect omega.” He murmured, his voice rumbling through her and making her cunt ache, and reached out to palm one breast, his still damp thumb brushing over her pebbled nipple. “ I'll give you more. I'll give you anything you want.”

Molly knew exactly what she wanted. Nothing she'd ever done had felt as good as the deft movements of his fingers inside her, but it wasn't enough. She reached out to start undoing his trousers one shiny silver button at a time as fast as her fumbling fingers could manage. His robes had gone and his shirt, somehow without her noticing. Maybe Lucius had vanished them even without his wand but he had left the trousers for her to undo and slip her hand into and pull out the hard length of him. His cock curved up to rest against his belly button, bigger than she'd ever imagined something that would go inside her could be. Lucius was pale and cool all over, eyes, hair, skin, but not here. Here he was ruddy and hot as she gripped him in her hand.

He pushed her back onto the bed and shoved his trousers down his hips before crawling over her. He laved the sensitive gland on her neck, the threat of a bite pressing as hard as the charmed necklace would let him. Her knickers were gone and he was pushing into the slick heat of her cunt.

She'd been worried that it would hurt, this first time, but she was so wet so swollen and ready for him she felt nothing but full. So full. She hadn't known she was empty until he was inside her but now she knew because he was touching places that she hadn't known existed a moment before. That was a shame too because they were some of the absolute best parts.

“ Best thing I've ever felt.” Lucius said through gritted teeth as he moved so slowly inside her. “ Such a good girl, you deserve everything. Going to give you everything.”

Molly couldn't think. She was lost in the steady in and out, the blissful slide of flesh on flesh. In the pressure building where they were connected like a cup filling up, soon to spill over. In how he felt bigger by the second even though she was already so full of him. In his hot breath on her neck and his beautiful voice whispering in her ear.

“ Feel that,” He lost his rhythm and she realized he felt bigger because his knot was swelling, locking him inside her and pressing on something inside her that made her legs shake. “ I'm going to come, _come with me omega_.”

She did. Every muscle inside her clenched and she came apart, soft keening noises pouring out of her while spell sparks flickered on the inside of her eyelids. Molly was gone. Absolutely vanished into sweet release from the horrible ache that had followed her for weeks and the last thing she heard before she tumbled into the soft inviting darkness was Lucius harshly whispering _“Mine, mine, mine._ ” as his hips jerked against her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter I just play with bits of it for fun, I promise I am not depriving Mz. Rowling of any of her money.

Heat was a blur.

Molly remembered only bits and pieces after Lucius knotted in her the first time and the heat began to peak. She'd started to feel her body moving against his before he had even left her body, the need rising up inside her again and swallowing everything but the way his groans rumbled through his body into hers. Everything but the feel of his hand coming between them to rub quick circles just above where their bodies joined.

Moments of clarity broke through the blur of need.

At some point he'd been feeding her fruit with his hands, in some brief moment when his wasn't inside her, except the fleeting seconds when she'd lick the juice off his fingertips.

Once she woke before him after they'd fallen asleep wrapped around each other and exhausted. His head was pillowed on her right breast and he'd wrapped one arm tightly around her to tangle his fingers in her hair.

He'd whispered against her neck that he liked her earlobes which made her laugh until he'd nipped that earlobe he liked so much and the need came roaring back to life deep in her gut.

Mostly she had snippets of him moving inside her and the his voice repeating “ _Mine, Mine, Mine_ ” and “ _Make you feel good”_ and other broken bits of praise and filth. Molly had no idea how many times they coupled or even how many days they'd been in the room. She only knew that she had never felt so good as she did when she was stretched around him and his mouth was on her throat.

Eventually she came back to herself.

It wasn't a little at a time. The heat had come on quickly and it left her in a rush. She had fallen asleep completely lost in the feel of Lucius still hard inside her. She woke up empty, alone, and with a clear head.

Every part of her body ached. Her scalp stung. Her neck felt like one giant bruise. Her nipples were raw and bright pink, a perfect set of teeth marks scalloped the edges of the left one. Every joint was stiff, especially her hips. Between her legs she was sore. At least that she'd expected. The sharp pain in her right earlobe she remembered getting but it was still a surprise.

Stretching and testing her body she suddenly realized she was also cold. The bed was empty. Sometime after she'd fallen asleep Lucius had untangled himself from from her and left. With him and the fever of heat the little room was as cold and lonely as her isolation room in the hospital wing.

Molly couldn't help but be glad, even with the pang of disappointment that Lucius hadn't stuck around for the morning after. It was better this way. When her mind had been clouded it was easy to be close to him, touch him, but now she was more clear headed than she'd been in weeks. She couldn't stand to look him in the eye right now. She needed time. Time to feel like herself again. Time to remember how to be polite with him, because really they were still two people who barely knew each other. She'd seen every inch of him but she didn't know his favorite color or if he liked Quidditch. He'd been inside her but he didn't know if she liked roses or daisies or whether or not she had ever broken a bone. Being in bed with him right now would be beyond awkward. It would be unbearable.

The house elves had left her a light breakfast and a change of plain black robes at the foot of the untidy bed. Her pretty yellow dress that had been ripped to bits of nothing was gone. She ate the fruit and toast in silence, trying her best not to think about how she'd spent the last few days. It was quiet but it was also peaceful. She was ravenously hungry and it was easy to let her mind drift to how well her new charm had worked, returning to Gryffindor tower, helping Caroline prepare for her engagement party.

The banging on the door started while she was changing into the robes that had been left at the foot of the rumpled bed, probably by whatever elf had been keeping them fed. It wasn't polite knocking. It was like someone was trying to bash the door down with their bare hands.

" Hold your hippogriffs." She muttered to herself, wincing as she slowly forced her aching limbs into clothes. Considering the week she'd just had whoever had been sent to collect her could calm down and wait a moment.

She wrenched the door open ready to lecture whoever was causing the unholy racket.

" We're you raised in a barn? Honestly, you have to at least give a girl a chance to get to the door before--" the rest of her words deserted her as her eyes locked onto the thin face of the young man at the door.

Arthur.

He looked like he'd been crying for days.

His blue eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed. His fine copper hair stood up in disarray where he'd grasped at it in his misery. Arthur was easy going until he wasn't, then it was in every inch of his body. He wasn't easy going now. He looked the way he had the day his father had died. Like his entire world had changed in the matter of a moment and he hadn't figured out how to look at it again. Somewhere between rage and despair. His hands were red and chapped with use, like he'd been pounding on the door for hours, not minutes.

That was all she saw because his arms were suddenly wrapped around her.

" Molly," he whispered. His voice ragged against her ear. " Goddammit, Molly, why couldn't you just read my letters.”

She didn't know what to say. It was overwhelming to be in his arms again after such a long time away. He'd grown. He'd always been gangly but now he stood head and shoulders above her. Her face pressed into the stiff material of his school robes, damp at the collar where he'd dried his eyes recently. He was wearing a sweater underneath and she was almost certain if she looked underneath she'd find it was a cerulean blue that matched his eyes. She could feel the messy lines of cable she'd been learning when she made it. It was all so wonderful and familiar. He smelled good. Like Christmas. Like coming home.

“ I was angry.” She was barely able to say the words. It felt useless. Careless. Juvenile.

Arthur pulled away from her and spun to face the wall on the other side of the hall, putting a few feet between them that might as well have been a mile.

“ You could've yelled at me, Molly. You did. I understood why you were mad I felt like an utter arse over it.” He said

“ Why didn't you come see me.” She asked, her voice bitter with resentment. She hadn't meant to let her anger with him bleed through as much as it did, but she couldn't stop it.

“ I tried!” He was shouting now, still facing away from her. It was like he couldn't even look at her. “ I looked for you on the train, I felt like I was walking circles around you. I wanted to find you but you were hiding from me. ”

“ You could have come before.”

Arthur's face was filled with rage as he turned to her. It looked wrong on him. His big blue eyes were meant to be crinkled with a laugh. He already had smile lines and he was only eighteen. It was obscene to see the muscle in his jaw pulsing and his nostrils flaring, all of that anger directed at her.

“ Read the letters, Molly.” He whispered through his clenched teeth.

“ And what about after.” She pressed. If he wanted to be angry she could show him angry. She'd been so angry with him, angry for months. What right did he have to be angry with her when he was the one who'd run off and left her during their last summer before they had to be grown ups. Merlin, it was their last summer ever now. They'd missed it all because he'd been working and he hadn't even come to say good-bye. “While I was sitting in that isolation room and terrified and alone. Caroline and Amelia managed to come. You could have--”

“ _READ THE LETTERS_.” Arthur screamed and his voice pressed in so hard on her it made her ears ache. He'd never yelled at her before. She'd yelled at him plenty but Arthur never raised his voice. Now he was barely in control, red in the face and fisting his hands in his hair and walking away from her, yelling the last over his shoulder. “ Go back to the tower, the elves already moved your things. Read the letters. I'll be at the lake when you're ready.”

He was gone, round the corner before she could decide what to scream back at him.

Molly slammed the door to the heat room and made her way up to Gryffindor tower. She was glad that the first window she passed let her know it was still very early in the morning, just past dawn, the sky still pink and gold. Everyone would be at breakfast or still asleep, depending on the day of the week. She was the only girl in her year except Caroline and she would already be out eating breakfast so she could get to the pitch for an early morning fly. She could sneak into her room with no one the wiser.

She didn't know how Arthur knew where her things were. Frankly she didn't care. She would go read his letters, and then when she was done she would go out to the lake and scream at him that they didn't matter. None of it mattered. This fight didn't even matter because they had to be over. They'd had their chance this summer and they'd missed it and now they couldn't get it back and she'd never forgive him, or maybe she would when she was mated to another man and so full of happy omega hormones she could barely remember what it felt like to be wrapped up in his arms. Maybe she'd forget him altogether since she didn't have the summer to look back on.

“ Password?” The fat lady asked. She'd somehow made her way to the tower, barely noticing as she stomped her way through the halls.

“ I don't know. I've been in isolation for almost a month.” Molly replied politely. She'd yelled at the portrait before but she'd rather not do it now. It wasn't her fault. “ You know me. You've known me for seven years. Please don't hassle me right now.”

“ That's a bit more polite than last time.” The portrait remarked as she swung forward.

“ Thank you.” Molly whispered as she walked through.

The common room was blessedly empty and she met no one on the stairs. She was able to slip into her room completely unnoticed.

The house elves hadn't just brought her things back, they'd put them away and sorted things exactly how she liked them. It was a relief to walk into the room exactly as it should be. The only things out of place were her keepsake box, her wand, and her knitting basket, all laid out on the bed as if someone had known she'd need them. It didn't look like house elf work, it was personal. Caroline maybe. It was a sweet gesture.

She didn't want to be in the robes with nothing underneath anymore. She took a moment to change into her own clothes, already noticing the missing spot of sunny yellow in her wardrobe. The rose pink summer length robes would have to do. They were worn in and comfortable enough to sit on her bed or out on the lake shore.

Molly sorted the letters by date as best she could. He hadn't put the date on most of them but luckily she hadn't moved them around too much and many of the ones from muggle London were covered in colorful stamps. She hadn't thrown any away or sat rubbing her fingers against the cheap parchment and thinking about opening them. She flipped the stack upside down and opened the first letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter this week but next time its going to be soooo loooong really like way too long so I'm willing to accept this. 
> 
> I hope you are as glad to see Arthur as I was to write him entering the story, even though angry Arthur is just. . .wrong. 
> 
> Also, fun facts. I read fanfic on my phone exclusively, but I upload from my laptop. This makes every paragraph look so weird to me!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own neither anything to do with Harry Potter nor the musical talents of the Beatles. I make no money from borrowing pieces of the work I just exercise my creative muscles and cry a lot. 
> 
> Thank you so much to the people who have commented and left this work kudos. It's my first and the feed back really helps me feel more confident posting.

Molly,

I'm sorry.

I know I already said it but here it is in writing so you can have it forever.

I get it. I did wrong. I should have talked to you about my plans. I should have talked to your parents, put aside time for us to be together this summer. But it's not like I can pull out now Molly. The ministry is paying for my funding. I want to work there one day. It's my future. I hope it's our future.

I know it's not how you imagined this summer, but we can still see each other. You can't tell me your mom won't bring you in to London for a day. Just to visit, she can stay with us the whole time. I can floo out to you, even if it's just an afternoon here and there. We can do picnics. Out under that willow in the back of your garden. I'll floo in for dinner every night if your parents don't get tired of me.

I swear I will do whatever I can to give you time. To make you understand that I want to be with you.

This isn't forever Molly, it's just one summer. We can make it through one summer without me sleeping over on your brother's floor and playing pickup quidditch in the garden.

I leave tomorrow, please just write me back, we'll work it out.

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I'm not going to stop writing.

You don't have to unblock the floo. You don't have to come visit. You don't even have to write back but I'm not going to stop writing you.

It's one summer. One summer out of the rest of our lives, but I'm not going to let it go by as the summer we weren't talking. It's going to be the summer I wrote you every day.

I'm settled in now. I told you the flat was tiny but it's kind of nice now that I'm settled in. It's little, but it's cozy. I put the blanket you made over the sofa it has a pull out bed in it, absolutely brilliant these muggles are, no transfiguration so they just make a couch that's also a bed. The point is it's cozier with the blanket out. All the different colors make it feel like home.

It was my first day at the record store today. They won't let me use the machine that takes the money since I don't know the different notes and coins, but I get to sort the records into the bins, and the play music all day long. Molly the music is so much better than ours. I know they don't have magic, but this music, it's magic. I'd swear it under _veritaserum_.

I especially like The Beatles. I know it seems like they are bug themed which would be awfully strange, but it's just a music pun. They played them half the day today and I stocked some of their albums. They make me think of you. I'm going to bring home a record player and some of their music with me when I come home. I don't know if they will work at Hogwarts but one day I'm going to play this music for you.

_Oh please, say to me, you'll let me be your man, and please, say to me, you'll let me hold your hand. . ._

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I don't think I'm ever going to understand this muggle money. Why do they make it out of paper? It gets crinkled up and then it doesn't want to lay in the machine, the till they call it, and if you don't read closely you might miss which kind of money it is. It's no wonder muggleborns seem so confused by our money, they don't think about the color or size at all, they only look for the numbers. I've always been terrible at numbers. I'm learning all this but I don't think it's going to stick.

I thought about you a lot today. A girl with hair the same color as yours came in today, and she was wearing one of those muggle dresses that have sleeves almost like robes in the pretties green. It would be pretty with your eyes. Her eyes were blue like mine, and it looked fine, but it would have been prettier with your brown. She was looking for more of The Beatles.

_All you need is love_

_All you need is love_

_All you need is love_

The Beatles sing it over and over and it must be true. This girl thought it was true. She was buying the record for her man, just for that one song. Her parents don't like him but she doesn't care because she loves him, and that's all she needs

It's all we need.

Love,

Arthur

P.S. I promise I don't just go around looking into other girl's eyes she just reminded me of you so I was watching her a little closely is all.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I wish you'd write back. I know I said I wouldn't bother you about it, and I'm going to keep writing, but I wish you'd write me back.

I miss you.

I'm not unhappy I came here. I've learned more than I thought possible just from living here, talking with people who don't use magic every day. They're so inventive, and they change. Wizards and witches, we don't change like this. The magazines from two years ago look totally different than they do today. They are interesting and we could learn so much from them.

And we're dangerous to them.

The owner of the store has pissed off some wizard and they've charmed his lock so it changes and the keys won't always work. The charm would take a minute, maybe two to get right, and then some little fight has turned into this man having to break into his own store every third morning and the police thinking he's a drunk, or mad. I had to report it to the ministry and they say it could take them over a month to send someone out to fix it.

I miss you because you're kind. You hold a grudge and you're hot tempered as a dragon but you're kind.

I thought for a minute I missed magic. I just wanted to fix this man's door, but really I missed you. I missed having someone who would understands why it's wrong to treat people this way. Someone who cares. I've been writing my mum but you know how she is. It's not that she hates muggles she just doesn't care. I can't talk to her.

I'm glad I came, but I wish you were here with me.

Love

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I am starting to hate it here.

My flat is tiny. I'm alone all the time except when I'm working. I end up walking the streets late at night, and I should be excited but I'm just angry. I'm angry that anyone can't see the value here.

The boss couldn't get the store open again today. It's been weeks and he couldn't get it open again. I almost pulled out my wand and unlocked it, damn the law. I ended up breaking the glass with my bare hands. He laughed and said he's done the same twice trying to shake the door open. I'm not sure if I was just shaking it that hard or if it was accidental magic.

I think someone had confunded the shopgirl at the corner market where I went to buy milk this morning. She had that look on her face and someone had stolen what looked like half her stock of cigarettes, these little paper things they smoke tobacco with that I don't quite understand. I stayed in her shop until she came around, it took her almost half an hour. How hard would you have to hit someone with a _confundus_ to have it last that long.

Maybe you were right and I shouldn't have come here. I knew that the way some of us treated Muggles was wrong, but I'm close to it now, and it's not just wrong, it's awful. I'm so angry all the time. I feel like I've lost a piece of myself.

I wish I was with you instead. I scrimped up and bought a record player and an album. The Beatles of course. I listened to it over and over last night.

_Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me._

_Oh, yesterday came suddenly_

_Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday_

I'm going to buy another when I get my next check on Friday. I hope it is happier, I could use the cheer.

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I'm back home. They sent me home.

Somethings wrong with me. I can't sleep, I've got a fever.

I thought the anger was normal. I thought I was just growing up and seeing things for what they were. I'm not sure that's true anymore.

I jinxed someone.

A wizard on the street, he was following a girl. It was the girl looking for that love song. I recognized her hair from across the road and then I saw him following her. I followed him. I don't know what I was thinking I didn't even know he was a wizard until he pulled his wand and tripped her, made her drop her bag of groceries. Who knows what he planned to do. Maybe he just wanted an excuse to ask her out, but I was worried it was more than that. So I jinxed him. In broad daylight. In a street full of muggles. I sent a jelly-legs at him and started shouting until he cracked off to who knows where.

The aurors put a cuff on me. I can't do any magic and I can't leave the Burrow. I have to go in to the ministry and talk with them tomorrow. I'm scared they're going to send me to Azkaban. I think the only reason I'm not there waiting for trial is I was there on Ministry approved assignment.

Just write back, Molly. Please. Read this one and write back.

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

I'm not going to Azkaban.

First off, just in case you are actually reading these, though I think it's rather unlikely considering you didn't write back after the last one. No matter how angry you are I don't see you not writing one of your oldest friends while he's waiting to see if he's going to prison. One day you will read them though. I'm sure.

So in case you do before I can tell you in person know I didn't spend a single night with the Dementors.

They pardoned me in full. The only person who saw what I did was the girl, just one oblivation. The auror who talked to me said that meant it wasn't a big deal.

That's not the real reason they are leaving me be though. There's laws to keep Alpha's out of Azkaban who are acting on protective instincts.

That's why they aren't carting me off.

I'm sorry, Molly.

I didn't know.

Love,

Arthur.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

My last letter was a mess. I'm sorry for that.

I'd just found out. I didn't know how to tell you but I'd said I would write every day. I don't know that I've ever broken a promise to you and I already felt like everything was upside down.

I still want to be the one who writes you letters every day, Molly.

I'm an Alpha, but I don't see why that has to matter.

Plenty of Alphas marry Betas. They have long, happy, fulfilling marriages. They have careers. They host garden parties. They have children. They live. Nothing has to change Molly.

My mum keeps saying things about finding an Omega, and how it would change me. Change everything. Maybe she's right. Maybe I would get one sniff and suddenly become an animal. That seems to be what the ministry thinks, but I am telling you I would only be an animal for a minute. It wouldn't change how I feel about you.

I have loved you since I was thirteen years old and I didn't even like girls. I jinxed someone in public because I was worried about a girl who just sort of reminded me of you. I've written you a letter every day for eight weeks even though I don't think you've read any of them.

I don't care what rut is like. We can figure some charm to knock me out if it happens. You're great with charms. I don't care what it's going to be like if I ever come across an unmated omega. There's no way they could smell better than you.

I took N.E.W.T. Level potions and Professor Slughorn has you smell _Amortentia_ the first day of sixth year. I smelled you.

You are everything I have ever wanted.

_But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you._

_And these memories lose their meaning, when I think of love as something new_.

The Beatles know everything Molly, they know everything.

If what I feel for you isn't love then love doesn't exist.

Love,

Arthur.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

We go back tomorrow.

This is going to be the last of my Summer of Letters. I want to make it a good one, but I don't know what to say. I've said it all already haven't I? The trouble is you won't have seen any of it will you?

I'm not sure which is worse the idea that you've seen it all and haven't written or that you still haven't and I am going to have to explain dozens and dozens of letters worth to you.

I'll do it though. I'll read them all out loud to you if you want. I'll even sing the song bits, though you might wish I wouldn't.

_You know I love you. I'll always be true. So please, love me do._

I'll find you on the train.

Love,

Arthur.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

Well seems I was wrong about yesterday's being the last letter. Maybe not though, I guess it isn't summer anymore, but I didn't miss a day.

Headmaster Dumbledore told all of the Alphas here that your parents are soliciting letters.

I know you haven't read my other letters yet, I wish you would it would make this all so much easier. The short story is I am an Alpha. I didn't know before.

What are the chances Molly.

What are the chances that I'm an Alpha and your an Omega and we both presented late. I smelled you on the train and I knew but I couldn't find you, or to be more honest I could tell you were hiding from me and I didn't want to scare you. I still don't want to scare you Molly, I know you're already terrified. I can still feel it. It's like my bones are vibrating because you are scared and I can't get to you. I can't smell you anymore but it doesn't matter, I can feel it in my chest.

Molly I will never do anything to you that you don't want. I would never hurt you. We don't ever have to have kids if you've changed your mind. I know that will mean we can't bond, and I want to be mated to you desperately but if you want me to take an unbreakable vow so I can't bite you I will. If you just want to wait through this heat I will wear a muzzle like a dog. I don't care. Whatever you want.

I've always tried to be a gentleman with you, even though all I want to do when we are alone is slip my hands up your top. I know I let it get away from me sometimes but I always ask if it's alright and you say yes. You've never said no Molly.

Please don't start saying no now. Not when it feels like our stars are aligning.

I wish I had taken Divination so I could prove it to you.

Just please let me take care of you. I know I messed up this summer but please let me take care of you now I can't stand to know you're hurting.

Owl back. Read this Molly.

Love,

Arthur.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

Why didn't you write back, Molly? Madam Pomfrey won't let me see you. She says you are in the isolation room putting off your heat. Why are you doing that?

I can feel how uncomfortable you are.

It's like I'm on fire.

You don't have to be scared Molly. I won't let anything happen to you. No one is going to take your life away from you.

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly,

It's been a week. I've sent you a letter every day. 

I begged Amelia to talk to you. I don't know what else to do.

Love,

Arthur

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Molly

Please. Please read the letters.

Love,

Arthur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bunch more letters but the editing revealed they were redundant. So here is a selection. Just a handful of the hundred and change letters that Arthur wrote to Molly. Everything is out in the open now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually uploading on time! I almost thought I was going to be a day late but I managed at the last minute! 
> 
> Fun Fact, this officially brings me over the minimum word limit I use when I am browsing complete works :) I don't know why but I am very excited about that. 
> 
> Also a periodic reminder that this story is not beta-ed at this point in time so any mistakes are my own!
> 
> I don't own the wizarding world, I just play here, also I make no money please leave me alone.

In the late afternoon sunshine Arthur's hair wasn't just ginger, it was bright as a campfire. Molly had seen it from her dorm's window as soon as she was done reading his letters, eyes still blurry from crying. He sat out by the lake, in their spot, stripped down to trousers and a white undershirt, hair shining in the sun, like a beacon calling to her.

She didn't even bother to put on her shoes.

The stony castle floor was rough under her feet but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered as much as getting to Arthur. Soon enough she was out in the soft damp grass and running faster than she probably had in her entire life. It felt like magic had when she was a child, like flying with her feet firmly on the ground. Every step of her feet moved her farther than felt possible. No matter how often she pumped her legs they didn't burn and she breathed easy and free.

Molly found herself in front of him suddenly. Without having realized she'd even gotten around the lake or passed the concealing boulder that protected the spot from all prying eyes except the ones looking down from Gryffindor tower. He was skipping pebbles out over the water as she rounded the last bend, his face still more serious than it ever should have been.

“Arthur.” She almost whispered, coming to sit beside him where the grass met the rocky shore.

“ Molly.” He replied, barely meeting her eyes before he skipped a rock out over the water. “ You read them then.”

“ I did.” She replied, trying hard not to let her voice shake. “ I read all of them. I should've read them before.”

“ Yeah, you should've.” Arthur shook his head and smiled grimly out over the water.

“ Arthur,” Molly gathered her courage to say what she knew she needed to, even though it made her face hot with shame. “ I'm so sorry.”

“ You should be.” Arthur replied.

“ I-I know. It was such a s-silly reason to be angry.” Molly tried to hold back her tears, feeling her voice shake. “It was just a summer.”

“ I'm not asking you to apologize for being angry, Molly. I understand.” His rocks weren't skipping anymore, just flying out into the lake and dropping beneath the rippled water. “I tried to explain that. I just wanted you to stop punishing me long enough to listen to what I was trying to tell you. Why didn't you read any of my letters?”

“ I was angry at you.” She felt heat rushing to her face and knew she was ruddy with embarrassment. “ That's why I didn't read over the summer. I knew I would write back I read them, I already missed you so much. I'm ashamed to say it but I wanted you to be suffering too.”

“ What about at Hogwarts?” He asked.

“ I thought I'd lost you.” She whispered, thinking about how she'd felt when she realized what being an omega meant. “ It was too painful to think of you when I thought I'd wasted our summer being angry and given up the last few moments we might have together.”

“ I understand. You were frightened and you had a decision to make.” His voice was gentle and quiet, exactly the way she'd remembered it except for the edge of sadness that made a lump form in Molly's throat.

“ I know I've made a mess of everything. I'm so sorry.” The words felt like ash in her mouth. Meaningless, tasteless, so much less than what she wanted him to understand.

“ You didn't mess up everything,” Arthur finally turned to her and looking into his big blue eyes made her heart skip a beat. “You should be apologizing to yourself, you're the one who got hurt the most.”

“ I left you alone for months.” Molly whispered, barely able to even think about what it must have been like. She'd had her family all summer, and she'd had Madam Pomfrey and so many visitors when she'd presented. He'd thought he was going to Azkaban, and how had she repayed him. “ You had to go through so much far away from home and with no one to even talk to about it. I slept with someone else, Arthur. I ruined our first time.”

“ No you ruined your first time. I still haven't had mine yet, you can't have ruined it.” Arthur said, letting out a laugh that was only a little sharp with bitterness. “Besides, judging by the way you smell I really doubt yours was ruined either.”

“ The way I smell?” Molly asked, her heart dropping into the pit of her belly.

“ You smell. . . satisfied.” His ears turned bright red as he spoke. “ I don't know how I can tell or how to explain it to you, but you do. You also reek of Lucius Malfoy.”

“ I'm sorry.” Molly said, wishing she could reach out and grab his hand but the distance between them felt charged with emotion she couldn't push through.

“ I can't believe he is who you picked.” For the first time Arthur's face looked how she had expected it to this entire conversation, disgusted. “ He's a Death Eater, Molly. Don't you pay attention to anything your brother's say? Him and Dolohov and Mulciber, they aren't marked yet but they're as good as. Abraxus Malfoy is putting the whole Malfoy fortune behind this Voldemort character, do you really think Lucius is going to abandon all that luxury?”

“ I don't listen to my brothers or Alastor Moody when they are talking about the war. That's what they call it. A war. That's exactly what it sounds like too, when I am listening. Moody talks about burnt bodies at my mother's dining room table. Fabian and Gideon keep a running tally of people they know who've gone missing or turned up dead. Forgive me for not wanting to be a part of that before I have to.” Molly replied after a moment of breathing, trying not to let her words hold the heat she felt creeping up her face, half shame half anger. “Reading your letters I don't know that you've been listening that closely either. You were so surprised by what was happening to the muggles around you Arthur but you knew they were being targeted. I feel terrible. You can yell at me all you want, but can you please not make it about the fact that I couldn't handle the secret resistance talk and let my mind wander.”

“ Couldn't?”

“ After reading your letters. . . I'm not sure I could ever be a fighter, I'm scared all the time, Arthur” She replied, hoping he didn't think less of her for admiting what a coward she was. “but I can't imagine ignoring what is happening. I want to be as brave as you. I want to care as much as you do.”

“ Molly, anyone who ends up on the wrong side of your wand should be absolutely terrified.” Arthur reached out to grab her hand, pulling it into his lap and stroking his thumb back and forth across her skin. “I don't want to be a fighter either. The Alpha hormones have made me a little angrier, but it won't stay that way. I can already feel it ebbing just talking with you, being close to you.”

“ So you still want to go work at the Ministry?” Molly asked, hoping his answer was yes. At the ministry he would be safe.

“ Yeah, I do. I think I can make a difference.” Arthur replied, his smile gentle, crinkling the skin around his eyes and warming his whole face. “ I haven't changed that much really. A little taller, maybe a little more likely to stand up to a bully, but I'm still the same person. I still want the same things.”

“ Arthur I still want to marry you, if you'll have me.” Molly blurted suddenly. She had begun to tremble at the familiar shape of his hands against hers, the way his fingers laced through hers like they were made to fit. “ I know I hurt you but I'll do anything I can to help make this better.”

Arthur just laughed, a warm chuckle that made Molly's spine tingle.

“ Of course I still want to marry you, you silly woman.” He tugged until she was pressed close against his side. “ What did you come down here thinking I was going to tell you that you were damaged goods and I never wanted to see you again?”

“ Y-y-yes.” Molly wrapped her arms around his neck and sob into his shirt. He was so tall, his shoulders so much broader than she remembered. He really had grown.

“ Never. Never.” Arthur whispered into her dirty, tangled hair. “ I'm here as long as you want me, and I mean right here. My hand was cramping from writing all those letters.”

They both chuckled at his joke and then they sat together for a long while. Molly stayed wrapped around his neck, sobbing quietly into the soft cotton of his shirt until it was damp and sticky between them. His breath ruffled her hair and a comfortable, fragile sort of quiet settled around them. The grounds shouldn't be so quiet on such a lovely afternoon, but somehow their section of lake shore stayed blessedly private.

“ There is something you can do for me, to make up for anything you are feeling guilty about.” Arthur said after Molly's legs had started to grow stiff from the quiet cuddling.

“ Anything.” Molly said, face still buried into the crook of his shoulder.

“ Hold on.” He said, and stood up, pulling her around in front of him, his arms wrapping around her waist so that she was pressed close to the front of him, legs kicking in the air.

“ Arthur!” Molly screeched, half giggling as he walked, stepping awkwardly to avoid her dangling legs. “ Put me down! You're going to hurt yourself!”

“ Shhh,” He muttered. “ I'm fine, we aren't going far.”

Water splashed up around Molly's feet and she realized he was walking them out into the lake. She laughed as he took them into the water one step at a time until they were neck deep and she was shivering.

“ Hold your breath.” He whispered before ducking them both under the water.

He held them under for a chill murky moment, almost long enough for Molly to start fighting the urge to breathe. They broke through to the surface spluttering and spotted with little bits of algae and dirt.

“ Arthur what on earth!” Molly shook her head, sending little droplets of water flying. “ What about the squid!”

“ I can see her basking on the other side of the lake.” He said.

And then he kissed her.

Arthur kissed the way he did everything, with every bit of enthusiasm in his body. That didn't mean he was messy, or that his mouth overpowered Molly's. He simply kissed her so thoroughly that she couldn't mistake for a moment that he loved her. It's how he had always kissed her, but now all the hesitancy had left him. He wasn't afraid of ruining her reputation or pushing her too far or too fast. As soon as his lips met hers magic moved through her. She sucked his lower lip between her teeth without thinking, instantly consumed by the soft movement of his mouth against hers. His arms dropped from around her waist, his hands reappearing at her bum, lifting her until she could just feel him pressed hard and hot through the sodden fabric at the cradle of her hips. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, a quick flickering touch that made her sigh and broke the spell of the kiss.

When Arthur pulled away his eyes were half-lidded and glassy with want, the sky blue reduced to a nearly invisible ring around his wide pupils. The feral look he gave her sent a pulse of desire through Molly that settled in the gland at her neck, making her feel exposed and desperate. She wondered if she looked as wild as he did.

“ Why” She whispered as soon as she'd caught her breath.

“ Don't be offended.” He grinned sheepishly and laid a chaste kiss on her nose. “ I wanted to kiss you but you stank of Malfoy.”

“ Do I smell better now?” She asked, feeling overwhelmingly aware that she truly needed a shower after days of heat and a dunk in the lake.

“Not really.” He said and she laughed, feeling truly relaxed for the first time in so long she felt like an entire hippogriff had flown off her chest.

“ Let's go back to the tower,” She said, tugging on the damp hair at the nape of his neck. “ I need a bath”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't make my weekly update on time but my clock says it isn't quite midnight yet! 
> 
> Fair warning next weeks chapter may be a few days late, I signed up for too many fests and I'm not going to start work on the next chapter until I get my submission for Sing me A Rare ready for beta! But it will not be a long delay I promise :) 
> 
> Don't the Harry Potter universe, and I don't profit off it. 
> 
> As per usual I do not have a beta for this story so mea culpa for any mistakes. 
> 
> On to the drama!

_Dear Molly,_

_(or Miss Prewett if you prefer, though I hope we remain on a first name basis)_

_I hope this letter finds you well._

_You've been in my thoughts since I left you still sleeping. I hope you didn't take offense to my rushing off but I felt it best not to risk temptation by waking up with you once your heat had worn off._

_Our first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up in September, and I hoped that you would do me the honor of walking out together?_

_If you would rather spend that time with your friends I will take no offense, we have no understanding as of yet. I will see you in double transfiguration come Friday and I do hope that regardless you will consider me for your next heat._

_Sincerely,_

_Lucius_

_* * * * * * * * * * * * * *_

_Lucius,_

_I was surprised to get your letter so soon. I guess I shouldn't be, you've been nothing but attentive and generous to me. I just figured that you'd be recovering. I know that after this past week I'm absolutely knackered. I think I slept a whole day after I showered and got myself tucked into my own bed._

_The first thing I want to do is tell you how grateful I am to you for getting me through. It feels strange to thank you considering I really hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did, but it feels like the right thing to do. You didn't have to make it enjoyable for me, the hormones made it pretty easy for you to skate by but from what I do remember you were kind and you went above and beyond to make me feel wanted and safe. You tried to make sure I had a decision in it and I appreciate that more than you will ever know._

_I appreciate that you asked me to Hogsmeade. It makes me feel like that little dinner before my heat really started meant something. You were witty and I liked talking with you. I'm glad that you enjoyed my company too._

_I just want you to know that I don't regret choosing you. Not even a little._

_But I do regret that I didn't know what all my choices were._

_I don't know how much mind you pay to gossip, and we never really talked before this. So I don't know if you already knew I have been seeing Arthur Weasley for years. I thought I had lost him, that being an Omega meant I had to leave him behind in the past. It turns out that he's an Alpha. Presenting felt like my world was ripped away from me, and now I feel like I've gotten it all back._

_So I can't go to Hogsmeade with you, and I can't take you up on your offer to see me through my next heat._

_But it's not because you weren't wonderful, or I don't like you. It's because I'm in love with Arthur, and I've been in love with him since I was fifteen. He was my first kiss and he's my best friend and I love that he smells like Christmas and that he likes listening to muggle music and that he's never met a stranger. He's my favorite person._

_I'm sorry._

_Sincerely,_

_Molly_

_* * * * * * * * * * * * * *_

It felt like nothing had changed.

Now that she wasn't in heat Molly was allowed to return to her life as it had been before. She had hated being off in the isolation room. She hated being alone. So she savored returning to the rhythm of her life. She slept in Gryffindor tower. She was able to study and relax in the common room with her friends. She attended her classes and meals in the Great Hall.

Most of all she enjoyed Arthur.

They had most of the same classes and they did their homework together. Arthur made friends easily and they often joined Henry Chang at the Ravenclaw table or the Hufflepuff table with Amelia Bones. They took long walks during free periods and in the evening after dinner, usually ending up in their spot by the lake where they'd rest and Arthur would flip her over underneath him on the grass to prove to her what was really different about him.

Everything was suddenly different.

Arthur had always been so gentle, so hesitant, never wanting to ruin her reputation or risk anything that might make him seem like the ill-mannered yokel that so many of the other wizarding family's considered the Weasleys to be. Now she had no reputation to uphold. Everyone in the castle knew what she was, what she had been through, by now. The first thing Molly'd done after she'd recovered from her heat was write to her parents and tell them that Arthur had presented. Dumbledore had decided not to remove the pendant he'd given her while she was in school, removing the chance to act on the only urge anyone expected them to keep resisting.

He was an Alpha. She was an Omega.

Out in the soft grass by the lake he proved it to her.

She walked around all day with the remainders of love bites he put all over her neck, only interrupted by the broad protective line of the charm. She woke up from dreams slick between her thighs and hearing Arthur's rumbling voice saying “ _I've been smelling this all afternoon,_ ” or “ _I'm the luckiest man alive, Oh, yes touch me just like that,_ ” or “ _Lay back pretty girl, I need a taste_ ”. When they were alone together the Alpha tones flowed freely. He didn't restrain it, just let her slip down on a delicious honeyed tide of words until she could almost come without him ever touching her. It was like they were made for each other, just how it should be.

Except he wouldn't fuck her. He'd touch her and taster her and let her rub all over him but he wouldn't fuck her until he could bond with her. He had been planning to wait until they were married, but they both knew they wouldn't make it much past leaving school. So he wanted to wait until they could bond, so that first time would be special.

After the mess they'd made of things over the summer, a few months of waiting didn't bother them. The Christmas holidays would come soon enough, along with her next heat. It couldn't get much more special than that, and the waiting was enjoyable on it's own. Her old dreams and new future had come together quite pleasantly and she was more than glad to take advantage of it.

The only interruption to the sudden righting of Molly's world were the moments when, for some reason or another, she noticed Lucius.

The first few meals back in the great hall had been dreadful. Molly's usual seat at the Gryffindor table faced the Slytherins. Every time she sat down she would slowly begin to feel the creeping sensation of eyes upon her until she glanced up to find Lucius's icy stare on her from across the room. It had only taken a few meals for her to start sitting next to Arthur instead of across from him, hoping no one would notice that she'd done it so she didn't have to see the look on Lucius's face. Not that moving stopped him from looking at her. She could still feel his eyes locked on her through her meals, no matter where she sat.

Double Transfiguration on Fridays was a nightmare. Lucius sat at the very front of the class, as he always had, and from her seat two rows back Molly couldn't pay attention to Professor McGonagall. Arthur hadn't continued on to the advanced level, neither had Caroline Cho. There was nothing to distract her. She could only watch as his pale, shining hair became unkempt and lost its luster week by week.

She felt terrible.

She'd been glad when he hadn't answered her letter. She'd half expected him to send her a howler, but his absolute aristocratic manners had held out. He didn't write or berate her in the halls. He didn't say anything to her at all, but it wasn't hard to see that something was wrong.

It was just a few days before Halloween when he decided to break his silence.

“ Molly,” He began, coming to stand beside her table as the transfiguration classroom emptied. “ Would you take a walk with me. I'd like to speak with you and this may be the last nice afternoon of the year.”

“ A-Alright.” She spluttered, honestly surprised to hear his voice again. She was out of class for the day and had time before Arthur got out of his Muggle Studies class. Her only plan had been to write home to her parents and that could wait until tomorrow.

Something was wrong with Lucius. She wasn't even sure she liked him very much. She didn't like the way he stared at her and the way his shoulders went stiff whenever she was nearby. She didn't like the people that he surrounded himself with who sneered at Muggleborn students and knew too many hexes for their own good. She didn't like the fact that when she'd written to her brothers and asked them about the Malfoy's and the war they had as much to say about Lucius as they did about his father. She didn't like that she was starting to worry one day he'd be in Azkaban. She really didn't like that she was fairly sure he'd deserve it. Molly knew he wasn't her responsibility, but he'd been there when she needed someone. When she'd made too many mistakes and boxed herself in he'd been kind and tried his best to offer her choices.

She could at least take an afternoon walk and have a chat with him.

Neither of them said another word until they'd made it out of the castle.

“ How have you been, Molly?” He asked, his voice sounded hollow to her ears, devoid of all the pleasant warmth she remembered from their dinner.

“ Good. It is nice to get back to normal.” She replied. “ And you?”

“ I wish my life could get back to normal. There was a moment where I thought . . .” His eyes were unfocused and his stony expression wavered around the edges. “I don't know what I thought. That things were going to be easy. They aren't easy though. My father has had me home every weekend just to shout at me. I'm lonely.”

“ I'm sorry that things are hard right now.” She was. He looked like his world was falling apart.

“ It's going to get worse.” He replied.

She thought about the things her brothers had told her about the folks on the other side of the war: The deatheaters like Lucius's father, and the not quite's like Lucius and all the terrible things they had to do in the dark of night. She thought about the man they'd been hoping would spy for them, the one with doubts and she remembered that they'd found him dead on the steps of the ministry with his tongue cut out.

“ I think you're probably right about that, Lucius.”

“ You could make it easier, Molly.” He said after a moment, not meeting her eyes.

Molly felt dread creeping up her spine. She let herself fall a step behind, suddenly not sure she should be here.

“ How could I make your life easier?” She asked.

Lucius turned to face her and she knew that the goosebumps running up her arms were right. She had misjudged this. She shouldn't be here.

“ _Come with me._ ” He said, and the command shot down her spine. Molly couldn't have stopped her feet moving forward any more than she could stop her heart from beating.

“ Where are you taking me.” She whispered.

“ Past the school gates to the apparation point.” He said, his words clipped like he was grinding his teeth. “ My father gave me the board members ward password. It overrides the headmaster. _Keep up._ ”

“ I can't leave the school, Lucius.” She replied, getting breathless as she struggled to match his long strides. She had never crossed the grounds this quickly in her entire life, the scenery passed in a dizzying blur.

“ You can for a family emergency, once we are bonded. My father will alert the school of the situation in the morning. ” He replied.

“ We can't bond.” She tried to reason with him, more than anything just trying to slow him down, by time to think. “ Only the headmaster can remove my protection charm. I can't take it off.”

“ The Dark Lord has assured us he can get it off.” The smile he shot her as he shook his head was sickening. It was fake, too sharp, like he put it on to try and seem like himself but he was failing badly.

“ You're already a deatheater.” She replied, nausea burning up her throat.

“ Yes.” He whispered. “ Since last week.”

The implication that it was the price demanded for her hung heavy in the air, but it didn't work on Molly, because she knew that you could only buy someone's loyalty if they were on the market to begin with. The blame for his choices wasn't on her.

“ I thought I could walk away any time I wanted. You said it was my choice.” She replied, feeling angry tears welling up and hating them because men always mistook them for sadness.

“ That was before I understood what it was going to be like!” Lucius almost shouted. “ It's like you were made for me. That's what I want. I'm not going the rest of my life with a pale imitation if I have a choice in the matter.”

“ I'm not the only omega you will ever meet.” She said quietly.

“ You are the only female pureblood omega to present in the last ten years. You are the only option for me.” He replied, his voice absolutely seething with disgust at the alternatives he imagined.

“ I'm not an option either!” She replied, throwing up her hands in exasperation. “ I'm in love with someone else. You can't just make me fall in love with you.”

“ Can't I?” He said, turning on a dime and shooting her a cold smile as she almost stumbled into his chest. “ _**Stop walking Omega**_ _.”_

Molly couldn't lift her legs. It was like roots had grown through the soles of her shoes into the damp Scottish dirt. More than that she didn't want to move. His voice washed over her and she sunk down inside herself somewhere warm. This was more than the wet, tingly rush she got when an Alpha hormones rushed over her or that rumbling tone crept into their voice. He was putting every ounce of himself into it. This was what Dumbledore had warned her of before her heat. She would do anything for him if he asked it like that. She wanted to please him. Her wants, her needs, were drifting away on a tide of his warm satisfaction.

“ _Feel that, my Omega_.” He whispered and she shivered. “ It feels good doesn't it. I could keep you like that for years if I wanted to once we are bonded. Bonding will make you want me. Not any Alpha. Me. Do you really think your hurt feelings can compete with that urge, with knowing I can make you feel this good? With enough money to buy anything you could want? When we have children together? We've already proven we work together. I'm just going to make it permanent.”

Permanent. That meant forever. Forever without her friends and family, on the wrong side of a war. Forever without Arthur.

“ _No, no please, I_ \--” She tried to struggle against the warm hazy sensation that had taken over her body.

“ _**Stop fighting me.**_ ” He hissed, grabbing her wrist and digging those long elegant fingers into the gland there, making her eyelids flutter and leaving her so limp with electric pleasure that she almost fell to the ground.

Then she heard a voice that cut through the haze and stiffened her resolve enough to struggle against Lucius's hold on her wrist before a blur knocked into him, and his grasping fingers were suddenly gone, somewhere five feet away from her on the ground in a pile of writhing limbs.

“ GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I was a couple days late! I was hoping for Monday but to be honest with you dear readers I am very new to writing lemons and I find myself editing them over and over trying to get it right and still not feeling like it's perfect! 
> 
> But I did my best! 
> 
> Originally I had planned on an epilogue but I'm editing this note now to say I've written it twice and frankly I think the end of this chapter is better and I've decided to stick with it! 
> 
> As always J.K. owns it not me I'm just having a good time! 
> 
> No beta so only blame me if it's impossible to read!

It was hard for Molly to track the fight through the hormone induced haze she'd been put in. It was a fist fight. She'd never seen one before. A punch had been thrown once in a practice duel in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the professor had given the witch twenty points for catching her opponent off guard, but after that it had all been wandwork. This was messier, closer. They were wrapped around each other so tightly it was hard to see where Arthur began and Lucius ended.

Of course it was Arthur coming to her rescue. His ginger hair was a bright spot in the swirl of black robes and pale hair and skin. The air was filled with the smell of both of them. It made Molly's knees weak. Arthur was furious. The sharp edge of his voice and the wet sounds of flesh hitting flesh were the only things that cut through the fog.

“ SHE SAID NO.” _Smack. Thud._ “ I HEARD HER.” _CRACK._ “ YOU PIECE OF SHIT.”

Molly dropped to the ground. It was too much. This was bad. Something bad would happen if she couldn't stop them. She wasn't exactly sure how she knew it but she was sure this wasn't the kind of fight that ended on it's own, not without someone dead on the ground.

“ _Alpha.”_ She whispered, her head bowed, exposing the gland at her neck, crawling closer to them, hoping the right one answered her call because she couldn't make her lips form his name. “ _Alpha I need you._ ”

The sickening slapping sounds continued for a few more moments before the tangle of limbs broke apart and Molly heard the muffled sounds of a spell being cast. 

_"Omega,_ ” Arthur whispered, gathering Molly into his arms, his nose buried in the skin at the base of her neck. “ _I'm here? What do you need._ ”

“ _Bite me_.” She answered, completely overcome now that she was in his arms, trying to work her hands under his clothes. “ _Please, please, bite me, please, Alpha._ ”

He ran the broad flat of his tongue on the gland in the crook of her neck. It sent tingling warmth through her and promised more to come. She collapsed into it, pressing her hip firmly into the hardness she felt growing beneath her. She felt the sharp edge of his teeth in the sensitive skin at her throat and then a chilling pulse of magic raised every tiny hair on her body. He groaned, pushing her back from his chest and pulling his class robes closed over his clothes.

“ I can't _._ ” He said, voice suddenly lacking warmth.

She had displeased him. He was rejecting her. Didn't want her. She felt like she couldn't breathe without touching him. The other alpha was still so close. Molly could smell him, blood and sick and leather, just behind her. Arthur must be able to smell him too, smell him on her still. She needed to do something to prove she didn't want him.

“ I'm sorry, Alpha _,”_ She scrambled, fingers desperately trying to open the button of his trousers without looking at him, turning her eyes to the ground and letting her tears fall freely. “ _Let me please you._ ”

He gathered her back against him.

“ You've been such a good girl, shhh, I'm very pleased _._ ” He said, stroking her hair gently. “ I just can't. We have to go get this necklace off and the Headmaster won't do it if you can't even say my name. You have to snap out of it Molly.”

He didn't say anything else for a long while. He just held her quietly, hands carding through her hair and whispering as she tried to steady her breathing and wait for the sense of urgency to pass. Eventually it did. Arthur's hands worked some soothing magic on her and Molly slowly came out of the haze of fear and desire and back to the sounds of Lucius struggling in the grass behind her. As she came back to herself she found she was full of rage.

“ Do I need to worry he's going to hex me in the back.” She finally whispered, face and mouth feeling half numb and sluggish.

“ No. I've got his wand in my back pocket and I've got him silenced and bound.” Arthur answered, some tension finally leaving him. He leaned back to look into her face and she noticed swelling around one eyebrow and a split in his lip.

“ Good.” She replied, unfolding herself from his lap and turning to look at the wizard tied up on the ground.

Lucius looked terrible. Arthur had really done a number on him. His aristocratic nose was dripping blood down his chin, crooked and rapidly swelling. His whole face was a mess of cuts and pink swelling. He was disheveled, at some point he'd been sick and the mess was plastering his hair to the side of his face. The look he gave her from blood shot eyes that would be blackened come morning was full of resentment.

Molly stood on shaky legs, still feeling weak and half out of control of her body. Her limbs didn't quite want to move the way she wanted them to. she was covered in a sheen of sweat and dimpled all over with goosebumps. Each step towards Lucius caused her to shiver and set her lips to twitching as he jerked angrily at the magicked ropes that wound around his body and pinned his arms firmly to his sides. Once she stood next to him she let herself look him dead in the eyes.

She kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could manage.

“ Can you levitate him.” She asked Arthur, turning away from Lucius as he heaved silently behind her. “ I don't trust myself pointing a wand at him.”

If she'd pointed her wand at him she probably would have killed him right there. She knew a spell for deboning chicken that would certainly feel good to cast at him right about now. One could never be certain what a spell would do when not cast at the intended target, but Molly was itching to find out.

Instead she turned and walked back toward the castle, sure that Arthur would follow, towing Lucius along with him.

They stalked through the halls of the castle to the headmaster's office. She didn't know the current password but the gargoyle revealed the narrow staircase all the same. Arthur didn't take particular care as the ascended and Molly felt a little thrill of sick pleasure every time she heard some part of the levitated cargo thunked against the hard stone walls. The door at the head of the staircase was wide open when they arrived.

“ Miss Prewett!” Dumbledore exclaimed, standing up from his desk and putting away some whirring gold object of unknown purpose. “ What brings you to my office today?”

About that time Lucius's body rounded the corner head first, Arthur following close behind.

“ Ah, I see you've had some trouble with our recent graduate.” He added cooly.

“ Graduate?” Molly asked, taken aback. It was the middle of first term after all.

“ Today was Mister Malfoy's last day of classes,” The Headmaster informed them. “ His father arranged for him to take his N.E.W.T.s early. He finished his last exam more than a week ago I believe he was just waiting for his marks to come in and they arrived with the morning post.

“ Well, it's been a big week for him.” “He also became a deatheater in exchange for that Voldemort character promising to get this charm off my neck so he could bind me to him against my will. I'd be mindlessly in lust with him right now if Arthur hadn't somehow happened upon him trying to kidnap me.”

“ She was throwing off so much fear I could smell her from the castle. I might need you to excuse me from Muggle Studies, I tore out of the class about halfway through.” Arthur added, cool and polite now that they were in the presence of the Headmaster.

“ What would you like me to do with him?” Dumbledore asked, gesturing to where Lucius was still floating in the corner.

“ Frankly I don't care. He's leaving the school so we can finish the year without him.” Molly answered, refusing to even look at the wizard who had once made her feel so safe.“ I just brought him here so you could understand why I need you to remove the charm. Arthur and I had planned to wait til my next heat, but I don't want to walk around unbonded anymore. I don't want to end up a prize to a deatheater.”

Dumbledore stared at the young wizard who was no longer his charge for a long quiet moment. Without the noise of conversation the quiet intensity of the Headmaster thinking filled the room. Molly couldn't help thinking that between the palpable heat of her rage fanning off her and the older man's overwhelming and knowing presence, anyone would be hard pressed to believe that omegas were somehow less powerful.

“ I don't want that for you either, Miss Prewett.” Dumbledore finally said, waving his wand silently, making Lucius float towards the floo where a toss of floo powder and a whispered conversation in the fire preceded the young wizard being sent through to parts unknown. “ And I won't keep you hostage inside the castle walls where I know I can keep you somewhat safe. You have every right to make this decision for yourself, and for what it's worth this old man thinks you've chosen wisely.”

“ Thank you, Sir.” Arthur said quietly from the doorway, which he still hadn't moved past.

“ Where'd you send him?” Molly wasn't concerned for his well being, but she was mildly upset at the idea of him getting away with what he'd done.

“ I flooed him through to the ministry.” Dumbledore answered. “ I think you are both aware that his father has most of the ministry in his very deep pockets, but I reported him to the liason for omega solicitation. It isn't much but I think his appearance has made an impression on the staff. He won't be soliciting any more omegas, pureblood or not.”

“ It's hardly justice but it's better than nothing.” Molly said, biting her bottom lip hard to keep angry tears from breaking through.

“ I cannot give you justice, Miss Prewett, but I can honor your choices.” He said with a dreamy tone and flicked his wand at her and the halfmoon charm around her throat unclasped and zipped into his outstretched hand. “ I would suggest to you and Mister Weasley that your favorite sunning spot has been warded to discourage intrusion, muffle noise, and give the illusion of emptiness since I stumbled on you while strolling the grounds a few weeks ago. Make of that what you will.”

Molly felt her face go bright red but before she had the time to become truly embarrassed Arthur grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door.

She wasn't sure if the corridors were as empty as they seemed for if the castle was pulling one of its helpful tricks to get them out the door. Every turn seemed familiar but it felt unlikely that every portrait would be empty, every door closed tight between the Headmaster's office and the nearest door to the grounds.

They didn't speed down to the lake. Once they were out of the castle Arthur slowed his pace until they were strolling hand in hand in the sunshine.

“ Are you sure you want to do this, Molly?” He asked as they walked, fingers squeezed tight between hers.

“ I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life.” She answered, glad he'd still asked, after everything.

No matter how leisurely they walked the lake simply wasn't that far. Eventually they rounded past the last boulder and they had arrived. Their spot was bathed in late afternoon sunshine, warm in the way it can only be when summer has almost, but not quite, given way to the autumn chill. Arthur pulled her into his arms, his hands slipping to graze the glands on her wrists and leaning in till his breath ruffled the tiny hairs at her temple as he spoke.

“ I don't want to be gentle. I want this to be perfect and sweet for you but I've been waiting so long and I can still smell that prick. I'm going to mark you all over.”

“ Please.”

His hands were everywhere. Running over her arms, at her throat, pulling her robes off her shoulders and skimming over the soft cotton of the dress underneath as he kissed her. When his lips met hers it lit a fire in her belly. He tasted of pumpkin juice and just along the edge of his lips his skin was starting to go rough as his shave charm wore off.

“ Take it all off. Your dress. Your charm. Your shoes. Your knickers. Take everything off.” He said, his voice deep and full of lust.

Molly obeyed. She stepped away, unbuttoned her dress and let it drop to the ground. She peeled her damp knickers down and stepped out of them along with her shoes, her eyes locked on Arthur's watching as they darkened. She let her charm go last, feeling the sudden weight as her breasts return to rest on her chest.

“ Beautiful.” He whispered reverently, undressing himself quickly. “ Turn around, I want to see the rest.”

She spun slowly, feeling his stare on her as she turned. A moment after she was facing away from him she felt a sharp slap on her bottom that made her let out a surprised squeak.

“ Look at that wobble.” He chuckled, pressing on her lower back until she went to her hands and knees with the ease of long familiarity. “ Never get tired of seeing it.”

He hadn't yet. Arthur would do anything to get his hands on her. Every time they'd been alone since getting back together, her skirts were up over hips and he was grabbing a handful. Almost every afternoon he had her laid out on her front in the sun, playing with her until she was shaking and he stroked himself until he spent over her back.

“ _Stay up darling_ ,” He said, his voice all rumble as he followed her onto the ground, one arm wrapping around her hip, pressing her bum into his warm skin and bringing his hand between her legs. “ I want you slick first, but you have to stay on your knees for me.”

His fingers slid against her and her legs went weak. He had the cleverest hands. He had spent so much time exploring her, playing with her, that he knew exactly how to bring her to a peak quickly. He laid three fingers flat over that little nub of pleasure and rubbed tiny circles that had her stomach and thighs quivering in moments. It felt like heat, perfect, like he was made for her, but she could feel it all. She was suddenly so glad they hadn't waited til the holidays when it would all be lost in that fog of desperation. Molly wanted to remember the way the pleasure suddenly slammed into her so hard only Arthur's arm around her hips kept her raised against him. She wanted to remember the way he shifted and thrust into her as she fell apart, her name on his lips.

He kept still inside her for a moment, leaning over her to press soft kisses at the back of her neck. She was stretched to her limit and she could feel his heartbeat where they were connected, as close as they could get

“ _Just perfect_.” He said, breath hot against her neck as he started moving inside her in fast strokes that hit against something deep inside Molly that felt so good it was almost painful. “ _Absolutely bloody perfect.”_

Arthur made love to her like he couldn't get enough, like every second outside of her was agony. Every thrust drew little, animal-like sounds out of her. She wanted to live forever in the moment when his hips slapped against her and that painful spark of pleasure pulsed in her belly. His thrusts sped and she wasn't the only one making sounds any more, each one was punctuated with a short grunt or mumbled praise like “ _perfect”, “ love”, “ mine.”_ Each movement got shorter as he got somehow, impossibly larger.

He pulled her up off her hands against him, arms holding her tight and a hand palming her breast as he laved over the gland at her neck. The new angle was overwhelming. She was suddenly on the brink again as each jerk of his hips wound her tighter and tighter, the pulsing pleasure somehow also radiating from the glands at her neck spiraling her mind down into a litany of _bite me, bond me, mate me, please._

“ _Are you ready, little omega_ ,” He said as his rhythm started to stutter. “ Are you ready, Molly?”

“ Please.” She breathed, unable to say more or do anything more than reach up and lace her fingers through his.

Arthur bit her his, teeth digging down into the sensitive skin at her neck. The magic raced through them, heat on every inch of their skin and lights behind their eyes. Molly shook apart into a million pieces. She was nothing but her body and the feel of him inside it. He moaned as he spilled inside her, the sound pulling little struggling waves of pleasure out of her exhausted body.

She was completely limp, pliant, and crying in his arms as he gingerly laid them out on them out on the grass. He stayed stuck fast inside her, quietly singing _all you need is love_ , until she warmed up under the summer sun and moved against him again.

They didn't return to the castle until well after midnight. Finally separated, but unable to stop touching. Supper was waiting for them in the common room and they fell asleep in front of the fire after feeding each other cake.


End file.
